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In her latest missive to parents and carers, the ESC President has said education staff are working "extremely hard to make the all-important improvements in the delivery of education" despite the crumbling buildings some of them are working in.
Sent out via schools on Friday, Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen's letter offered a reassurance that she is "working hard to address this situation and will be going back to the States at the earliest opportunity seeking some form of resolution, so that we can move forwards with certainty."
The situation Deputy Dudley-Owen referred to is the latest set back in her plans for securing funding to pay for the Transforming Education Programme (TEP), which includes the redevelopment of Les Ozouets campus.
"Very sadly, the outcome of last week's States debate is that we are no further ahead in our efforts to secure the funding needed to proceed with: building the new post 16 campus at Les Ozouets; improvements to Les Varendes High School building; the creation of a Communication, Interaction and Autism Services base for students at Les Beaucamps High School; and digital integration and improvements for The Guernsey Institute," she wrote in the letter dated 1 December.
Pictured: Read Deputy Dudley-Owen's letter in full HERE.
This letter is the latest to be sent to parents and carers via the schools, with Director of Education Nick Hynes also communicating directly with the public this way.
The letters set out clearly how disappointed the island's education bosses are with the ongoing challenges they face in seeing through their TEP which continually gets public support in principal but without any money allocated to pay for it.
"The States have again affirmed their approval of the plans to deliver all post 16 education in a purpose-built campus at Les Ozouets, with some States Members who were previously opposed to these plans now confirming their acceptance of the direction of travel," explained Deputy Dudley-Owen in her letter.
"Many have acknowledged how far advanced some of the changes are, such as the staffing reorganisation and the merger of La Mare de Carteret High and the former Grammar School into the new Les Varendes High which is now well under way."
Despite that growing political support for the TEP plans, the States have rejected a number of funding options for the work through successive recent debates on capital spending, introducing new taxes and the 2024 Budget.
Deputy Dudley-Owen said this lack of funding is causing problems now and will continue to cause problems for years into the future.
"In the medium term, the lack of Government investment in new education infrastructure will impact our ability to attract teachers and lecturers to come and work here, which has implications for the quality of education we can deliver. In the long term, this lack of investment risks the future economic success of the island, because we need modern fit-for-purpose buildings from which to train, re-train and up-skill the island’s workforce."
While reiterating that she is "working hard to address this situation and will be going back to the States at the earliest opportunity seeking some form of resolution, so that we can move forwards with certainty" Deputy Dudley-Owen also reiterated how "unthinkable" this situation is "especially because the plans were approved for delivery in September 2021 and are already part-way through being implemented".
Pictured top: Deputy Andrea Dudley Owen speaking at a recent AI summit (Chris George).
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