Backroom rows over "shocking" education system bubble over

Friday 26 September 2014

A major shake-up of the education system looks likely after senior ministers said it was time for major reform. The comments came at the Institute of Directors' debate on population growth, which was dominated by calls for better education, as a way of reducing immigration.

Political tensions appear to have been running high on the subject for some time - during this week’s Budget debate, outgoing Education Minister Pat Ryan attacked his ministerial colleagues over 2% cuts to his department’s spending next year. He said that the cuts to meet the deficit in States finances were reducing critical spending when they should have been investing more.

But ministers at the IoD debate made it clear that there is frustration over the lack of reform at the Education department, and they are not prepared to put up with "business as usual".

The first speaker at last night’s event was Mark Boleat, who started the ball rolling by saying that Jersey should be ashamed of its education system.

His comments opened the floodgates as the focus shifted quickly to education – John Mills, the former chief civil servant, who was instrumental in forcing the Education department to publicly reveal exam results that showed some individual schools were faring far worse than their overall statistics suggested five years ago, said that there was a real issue.

“Compared to London or the South East, schools in Jersey just aren’t performing,” he said.

And he was backed by Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf, who labelled the situation “shocking”, adding that the States needed leadership in the area.

Senator Paul Routier also spoke out, suggesting that senior politicians were committed to improving the situation.

“There’s a recognition that our education system needs to change and there is some real work to be done,” he said. 

An announcement is expected today from Chief Minister Ian Gorst about the future of education, which has been left largely alone for the last few years.