Motion to delay Guernsey education reform lodged
A motion to delay approved changes to Guernsey's secondary education system for a year has been lodged.
The seven signatories said the increased public attention into the reforms had "highlighted serious inadequacies of detail". They said the policy for a single school on two sites needed "further rigorous review and challenge". Without an alternative plan there could be five more years of debate, the education committee warned. Plans for one 11-18 school on two sites - the current St Sampson's and Les Beaucamps high schools - have been approved by the States twice, as well as £157m of funding. The new motion was signed by Deputies Andrea Dudley-Owen, John Gollop, Mary Lowe, Carl Meerveld, Rob Prow, Jeremy Smithies and Lester Queripel. They asked for the States to agree the Education, Sport and Culture Committee could not enter into any contracts for the work and for it to prepare a report comparing the current plans with other previously presented plans before the general election in June. Then the newly elected committee would be asked for a report on the chosen model of secondary education by the end of the year. The signatories said it would cause an "acceptable" a one-year delay that would "ensure that the correct decision is made considering the 50-year design life of the buildings". Education President Matt Fallaize previously said: "The challenges of reform will remain even if some deputies... pretend that kicking the can down the road will magically produce an education model supported by a majority of teachers and a majority of the public."