Calls for Guernsey's further education reform to be 'accelerated'

Deputy Matt Fallaize has written to the Policy and Resources Committee to suggest the idea

Guernsey's Committee for Education, Sport and Culture (ESC) is calling for the "acceleration" of the island's further education reforms.

The committee's president Deputy Matt Fallaize has proposed the Guernsey Institute Project be made a priority in the States coronavirus recovery plan.

The £51m project is set to integrate three further education sites into one "all-purpose" facility.

The plans were excluded from a review into secondary education reforms.

Deputy Fallaize wrote to Deputy Gavin St Pier, the president of the Policy and Resources Committee, to suggest the idea.

ESC said combining the College of Further Education, the GTA University Centre, and the Institute for Health and Social Care Studies would play "a key role in helping the island's economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic".

'Revitalising economy '

In March a successful requete forced work to stop on a one-school-on-two-sites model for secondary education and triggered a review into various models for 11-18 education.

The terms of this review were narrowed later that month, allowing the development of further education to continue.

Mr Fallaize said: "For far too long there has been under-investment at the College of Further Education in particular, but we are now on the brink of a period of substantial investment in higher education and we should prioritise and accelerate it as the first major project of the Revive & Thrive Strategy.

"Young people and adults looking to learn new skills will be key to revitalising the economy and The Guernsey Institute will be a place to get first class training as well as linking skilled people with industry and commerce."