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Guernsey's decades old Education Law could be updated with a pledge to finally explicitly ban corporal punishment in Bailiwick schools included among the proposed changes.
The little known fact that corporal punishment remains a legal course of action in schools has been highlighted by the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture, as it states its intention to do away with it once and for all.
It has not been used in any school in Guernsey, Alderney or Herm for many decades but it isn't illegal as such.
ESC said that is just one thing that will change if the new Education Law is approved by the States when it's debated later this year.
With the current Education Law dating back to the 1970s, based on UK legislation from the 1940s, many other aspects of it are also considered to need updating.
ESC is now starting the work to get States support for a new Education Law.
Pictured: Parts of the Education Law are in need of updating with support expected to nod those sections through, but other proposals may be more contentious.
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said having such a dated law is holding back other aspects of education.
"The vast majority of parents, carers and students will thankfully never have a reason to directly interact with the Education Law. That is both positive and to be expected in a community such as ours.
"Nevertheless, we cannot understate the importance of having an Education Law which sets out the universal entitlement of our children, meeting the needs and expectations of a modern education system. I’ve likened it before to an invisible safety net which offers protection for our young people and ensures the way we deliver education is appropriate for a modern, forward-thinking jurisdiction.
"The current Education Law is over 50 years old and is actually based on UK legislation from many years before that. Securing States approval to update the law has been a priority for our Committee this term and I believe we’ve taken a practical but aspirational approach providing future Committees with the flexibility needed to enable this law to be in place for decades to come.
"We have also built on the work undertaken by the previous Committee, but reviewed proposals through a post- pandemic and post-Brexit lens so they are appropriate for our local context."
ESC wants to change the way the islands deal with Governance, Safeguarding, Additional Learning Needs, Careers, and Home Education with the new law.
The Committee said children are at the heart of the proposals, "ensuring we are strengthening and improving their educational experience".
Through the introduction of governance boards, ESC intends to step back from its direct oversight of each of the 20 States maintained education settings.
Formalising safeguarding measures in schools and The Guernsey Institute would see the introduction of a legal requirement for central registers of all staff, regular contractors and volunteers, and records of any children missing education, to be maintained.
The new Education Law will, if agreed by the States, also ensure support for learners with additional needs and their families while all students will receive independent, professional and impartial careers information advice and guidance.
The new legislation would also improve support for home learners.
Pictured: Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen.
Deputy Dudley-Owen said together those changes will be the biggest improvements made to the overall governance of educational settings in decades.
"Our flagship proposal, and those which will bring about the most visible change for the community, overhaul our system of education governance," she said.
"The current law requires that the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture governs all States- maintained education settings. This means the political committee has direct responsibility for governing 20 education settings, meeting the needs of about 7,000 students. We do not believe this is an effective system so we are proposing new governance arrangements.
"If agreed by the Assembly, our proposals will establish governance boards for education settings, with the legislation outlining their purpose, constitution and high-level duties. I would encourage anyone interested in this key proposal to watch the short animation we have published to explain it further."
The proposed law can be read in full HERE.
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