ESC will have to bat off attempts to delay setting up school governance boards when the States sits next week – with two deputies seeking to ensure “political distance” between the Education office and how schools operate.
Deputy Haley Camp will lead an attempt to force Education back to the drawing board when the States meets after the summer recess next Wednesday (3 September).
If a majority of politicians back it, ESC will have to pull its legislation legally setting up independent boards of governors for each public school and only return to the States once a special investigation is completed into how far and how fast schools should be left to govern themselves.
Deputy Camp wants to see the powers handed to the boards clearly set out before the law is changed.
She said this would ensure they have “political distance” from the States.
Plans to devolve more powers to schools have rattled on for many years since an independent review in 2011 criticised the lack of independence handed to them by central government.
ESC also faced major political setbacks in the last term with deputies repeatedly criticising its plans for governance boards.
What has ESC proposed?
- Create ‘clusters’ of independent governance boards covering every States-school.
- Appoint a chair, and community, staff and parent representatives.
- Also include an industry representative on the Guernsey Institute board.
- Scrap school management committees which include parish representatives.
- Form a new Committee to investigate how much of finance, IT, HR, and other central services should be devolved directly to schools.
The sursis motivé – a delaying motion – has been seconded by Deputy Rob Curgenven.
Deputies Camp and Curgenven explained that they wanted to “prevent the premature approval of legislation that would establish governance boards without powers, accountability or certainty of future empowerment”.
They added there is a gap between what the previous States approved earlier this year and what is being presented to the new States.
“Creating boards with only advisory functions and no authority over critical governance concerns and retaining over-reaching powers at the Committee-level that maintain the status quo and do not achieve the stated political distance,” they added.
They want to see new terms which are “capable of delivering meaningful accountability”.
The new Education Committee, led by former teacher Deputy Paul Montague, backed the work started by their predecessors earlier this month.
“We are determined to put communities at the heart of education, and at the same time we want to ensure our education settings and their Headteachers and Principals are well-supported by governance boards that are empowered and appropriately accountable as they take on more responsibility,” Deputy Montague said.
“As a new Committee, we are encouraged by the possibilities the new legislation opens up, and we are very keen to ensure each governance board has the tools they need to make a positive contribution to the lives of the children, young people and adult learners they support.”
Deputy Montague can also preempt the challenge when he stands to deliver his first committee update statement on behalf of ESC at the very start of next week’s States meeting.