Longer Guernsey housing licences 'will help teachers'

An eight-year housing licence would help prevent teachers from outside Guernsey being put off taking jobs in local schools, education bosses say.

The Education Department said the current maximum licence of five years discouraged applicants because they did not want to move for such a short time.

The licence system is to be replaced with a population management system.

A report to the States has recommended a system of short, medium and long-term employment permits.

If accepted and passed as law, the new licences would be valid for one, five or eight years.

The Education Department said it wanted to offer more attractive relocation packages to avoid the effort and expense of having to regularly replace teachers on short-term contracts.

It said that, in one recent case, all four candidates shortlisted for a teaching post withdrew their applications because they were not prepared to relocate to the island for just five years.

The department added that it also wanted to offer more financial help to those considering moving to Guernsey to work in education.