Education "concerned" by timing of dissenter's opposition

Thursday 03 June 2021

An Education, Sport & Culture Member who broke ranks against his Committee's plans for the future of schooling caused "genuine surprise" among his colleagues, according to the ESC President.

Deputy Andy Cameron cast doubts on the benefits of his board's proposed "re-organisation" of local schooling, saying that the sixth form should stay where it is and that a new post-16 centre would be "operationally sub-optimal".

Following the publication of Education's £43.5m plans on Friday, he argued that in the current economic climate, it would be better to simply upgrade the facilities at Les Varendes and keep that site as a 11-18 school.

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen - whose Committee favours, by majority, three 11-16 schools and one sixth form centre - called Deputy Cameron out for the timing of his revelation. 

Pictured: Deputy Cameron said that co-locating the sixth form with the Guernsey Institute would be "operationally sub-optimal".

"The Committee has been united and in-step with the development of our plans for the future of Secondary and post-16 education during the last seven months," said the ESC President.

"It was therefore a genuine surprise when Deputy Cameron only very recently expressed his concerns about the proposals and until Friday afternoon, just before the policy letter was submitted, the rest of the Committee were unsure whether Deputy Cameron supported or opposed what was being taken to the States."

Her Committee had considered the “do least option” as part of its options appraisal. "The Committee unanimously rejected this at the time because it was felt strongly that this option resulted in inequitable provision, lacks ambition and would result in more than 1000 students being on one site at the same time.

Pictured: Deputy Cameron has changed his view on the future of schooling since joining the Committee. Pictured above is an excerpt from his 2020 Manifesto. 

"Naturally it is disappointing that Deputy Cameron has felt unable to support the propositions and we have been particularly concerned by the timing of his decision. The rest of the Committee remain convinced that our proposed model is the right one for Guernsey and Alderney."

"The Committee remains optimistic that Deputy Cameron might revert to his previous position of support for our model, and of course we are open to continuing discussions with him."