Incompetence claims "have brought the entire Assembly into disrepute"

Wednesday 10 March 2021

Accusations that Guernsey's government was "breathtakingly inept" and "incompetent" in the way it handled international exams inflamed an already delicate situation, the Vice-President of Education has said, as he slammed Deputy Gavin St Pier for "bringing the entire Assembly into disrepute".

Deputy Bob Murray has hit back following the strongly-worded posts by Deputy St Pier, which were made in response to an announcement by Education on Saturday that local students would take part in international exams.

The message was broadcast through States' social media channels, but was retracted hours later following "strong and articulate" feedback from students, for whom the news came as a shock. 

After further consideration, Education announced on Monday that students will be judged on teacher assessments instead. Over the weekend, Deputy St Pier publicly shared a letter he had sent to the committee, which stated that "[...] by any standards, government’s handling of this is breathtakingly inept and lacking any empathy for students and their families."

In an accompanying tweet, he said that the "next generation deserves better than incompetence".

I have written to Committee for Education, Sport & Culture this morning.

“I would simply ask that your Committee convenes urgently today and makes a final decision on the sitting of international exams this year. A further statement “early next week” is simply not good enough..” https://t.co/oqlYGbRNA0 pic.twitter.com/sRJ2mZ3TF3

— Gavin St Pier ???????? (@gavinstpier) March 7, 2021

Deputy Murray said the comments appeared to have been levelled not only at his committee, but at the whole of Guernsey's government.

"I think it brings the entire States Assembly into disrepute," said the Education Committee Vice-President. 

"My assumption is that he was making that comment about government because he is not part of any committee and does not consider himself part of government."

As a "well-renowned" States member, Deputy Murray said the wording used by Deputy St Pier was "quite inappropriate" and was indicative of a "very combative" streak towards his peers.

He added: "It was a very unfortunate approach to what was a delicate situation."

Pictured: Education President Andrea Dudley-Owen admitted on Monday that her committee had got it wrong. "I apologise wholeheartedly for the distress and confusion caused by the announcement of our original decision without students first hearing it directly from their schools."

Deputy St Pier said there are "still legitimate questions" over how the exam situation had been handled, which he has raised formally through written questions to the committee. 

“Frankly I’m more worried about the students at the centre of this debacle than my reputation or that of any individual deputies, the committee or the Assembly as a whole," he said.

"Although for the students’ sake, I’d have preferred them to have reached a decision more quickly than they did, at the end of the day, the important thing is that the committee recognised that, in their own words, they got the decision wrong and reversed course. And everyone is grateful for that."

However, by accusing government of incompetence and then, subsequently, asking for more detail about the decision-making process, Deputy Murray suggested the former Chief Minister had "put the cart before the horse".

"I think he made the charge of incompetence without understanding the consequences," he told Express. 

Pictured top: Deputies Gavin St Pier and Bob Murray.