Pupils show their passion for politics

Wednesday 14 February 2018

Year 12 students had had the opportunity to question a panel of states members, at a forum as part of a States' education initiative.

Students from the sixth form centre quizzed the deputies on the panel; John Gollop, Gavin St Pier, Matthew Falliaze, Emilie Yerby and Andrea Dudley-Owen, on issues that affected them. The most popular topics were; education, transport, mental health and criminal justice.

Pictured: The audience of pupils at the Grammar School and panel

The panel was hosted by the Deputy Headteacher of the Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre, Keiran James, who firstly asked the panelists to introduce themselves indicating what political party they were most affiliated to and what their favourite subject at school was.

Deputy Gollop said: "I would be most aligned to the UK Green Party and am actually a life member, although instigating it in its purest form in Guernsey would not really be possible. My favourite subject at school was history.

Deputy Dudley-Owen said: "I would say my political standing is in the centre, verging on the right and my favourite subject at school was religious studies."

Deputy St Pier said: "I would not align myself with any UK political party at present although historically I would place myself as a Conservative verging towards Liberal Democrats; I had some sympathies for the coalition government. My favourite subject at school was economics as it was the subject I was best at."

Deputy Fallaize said: "My political standing is left of centre, I would probably support a Labour government but do not support the current leadership! My favourite subject at school was history.

Finally, Deputy Yerby said: "I would say my political position would be Liberal Democrat or possibly independent, my favourite subject at school was Economics."

The panel were then ready to take questions from the floor. The Year 12 students had put together more than 100 questions which were grouped into categories:

Education

Two students asked about the location of the proposed two-school model and what might happen to the Grammar school and Les Beaucamps if they were not used.

Deputy Fallaize said: "There is still a lot of work to be done on where the schools will be, but education did an initial site assessment which showed that two sites; La Mare and Baubigny would have the capacity to hold the two schools and Les Beaucamp may have capacity if further land was purchased. We really have to have further analysis of all sites and the structure before a decision is fully made."

One of the students asked what would the two redundant sites be used for and Deputy Gollop said: "The planning category for each of the sites is currently public land with educational use. Perhaps the Grammar school could be useful as an extension to the College of Further Education especially given its location near to sports fields and the performing arts school. It would be sensible to make a large Castel primary school so perhaps the Les Beaucamps school would be used for that and the old Castel school site could be sheltered housing."

"There is talk of a building being used to make an on-island University; not just for the young, but to assist with more mature students and facilitate a culture of lifelong learning in Guernsey."

Pictured: Student Christian Black who asked questions on education

Student Christian Black asked why there had not been more student consultation on the approved two school model. Deputy Fallaize replied: "All involved agree that they were not entirely happy with the consultation and further consultation will be made with students and parents before the final model is implemented. At the moment the users of the new system have not even been born yet."

Mr Black told Express he was frustrated by this response: "I wanted to know why the decision had to be made so quickly and I felt there was no consultation with the students. I am interested in politics, if you are not active then you cannot complain about decisions made."

Transportion

One student asked about transportation and why it was cheaper to get to Barcelona from the UK than get to the UK from Guernsey. Deputy Yerby said: "It is very expensive to travel to the UK and there are varying opinions on what Aurigny's remit should be. Some believe it should be as accessible as rail transport in the UK, however some believe it should run as a business."

Deputy Dudley-Owen said: "I personally believe Aurigny is operating outside its scope and is overstretched so much that we need to do something radical with it."

Deputy St Pier commented that: "We can never compare links from the UK as there are ultimately less users and the price is often down to the size of the market."

Mental Health

There was a question on mental health with students asking whether the panel thought facilities in the island were up to scratch. Deputy Yerby said: "Mind are really active on the island and the fact that we are talking about it is a great thing."

Deputy St Pier added: "It is great that we are talking about mental health now more as that is a good step. In the old days people would be expected to see their doctor, be prescribed 'Prozac' and that was it. It is refreshing to know that so many other routes for treatment are now available."

Criminal justice

One question posed asked whether the panel thought it was right that sexual offenders often had less time in prison than those with drug offences. Deputy St Pier said he thinks we "need to change direction with regards to drug offences and see them more as a health issue rather than a criminal offence. Our criminal justice policy is out of date and needs to be reviewed. We also need our sexual offences legislation updated in the light of the Harvey Weinstein incident and other high profile incidents like those at the Presidents Club. We need to ensure that behaviours are challenged and consent is clarified clearly with no meaning no."

Pictured: Student, Haygan Mcdaid

After the debate student Haygan Mcdaid said: "I believe that there was a lack of consultation between the states and students on Education, I personally am somewhat against the two school model as I believe crowded schools can be unhealthy for individuals."

Main picture: The panelists