States should be ashamed, education president says

The future of post-16 education is in limbo due to a "lack of political ability", Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen said

The education president says States of Guernsey members should be "ashamed" for leaving plans for the future of post-16 education undecided.

Plans to borrow more than £100m to fund the building of a new post-16 campus at Les Ozouets were rejected on Wednesday.

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, apologised to islanders for the delays and the "lack of political ability" to finalise plans.

A scheme to ensure Policy and Resources (P&R) comes back to the States with a funding project before April 2024, securing the future of post-16 education, was also rejected.

Ms Dudley-Owen said: "All the students who had been excited about their future in Guernsey, being at the moment hampered by our lack of political ability to deliver what is so necessary and that is investment in our children."

Another rejected proposition included giving Education, Sport and Culture (ESC) up to £26m to maintain its current facilities.

P&R member Deputy Bob Murray brought forward the proposal to support the delivery of post-16 education in the current buildings.

He said Countanchez College was “already bursting at the seams”, and without money, ESC “can’t fulfil its mandate”.

“We’re past the model, put your opposition to that behind you and support our students,” Mr Murray said.

Plans to borrow more than £100m to fund the new post-16 campus at Les Ozouets were rejected

Paul Montague, Guernsey's representative at the National Education Union, said members needed to find a way to safeguard the future of post-16 education.

"I genuinely think that for the benefit of the economy of the island in the long term, Guernsey, through its politicians and the voting public, absolutely needs to invest in education."

Mr Montague said the children of Guernsey seemed "to be very much an afterthought".

He said the States were "incapable of coming to agreement about where to find the funding and it's very easy to blame the politicians, but the politicians are representing the Guernsey public".

"I think it's something that we need to think about as a community - if we value the States' education sector, we need to find a way of funding it."