The President of the Committee for Education Sport & Culture answered by first providing background information about exclusions.
Background
“It is useful to know that as long ago as 2004, the States, following a review carried out by the then Children Board under the presidency of the late Deputy Pritchard, and presented to the States by the then Health and Social Services Department with Deputy Roffey as its Minister, resolved to direct the then Policy Council to consider extending international conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to Guernsey,” said Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen.
“One of the overarching actions of the Children and Young People’s Plan 2016-2022 was for Guernsey to sign up to the UNCRC, and that Plan also saw all States-maintained schools in Guernsey and Alderney achieve Rights Respecting Schools Awards through Unicef.”
Pictured: President of ESC, Deputy Dudley-Owen.
“The UNCRC was formally extended to Guernsey in 2020, but its principles have been a key reference point for matters relating to children and young people in the island for many years. In the context of this question, it is first important to make a distinction between excluding a learner from a specific school setting and excluding a learner from education,” continued Deputy Dudley-Owen.
“It is the Committee’s position that no learner should be excluded from education, and this position supports the right of every child to education, as described in Article 28 of the UNCRC. However, there might be circumstances where either a short-term exclusion of the learner from their school, or exclusion from that school is appropriate.”
She said there are several alternatives to exclusion, including internal suspensions and short term off-site support.
There is also the ability for schools to be able to move a learner from one setting to another. This is called a “managed move”.
Inclusion not exclusion
Deputy Queripel sought further reassurance from ESC that every effort is made to include students, and not exclude them.
“I can’t see where excluding a child from school is any different to someone being excluded from our community, because both result in alienation,” he said.
“So bearing that in mind, doesn’t excluding a child from school ‘fly in the face’ of the very mantra the majority of people out in our community, which includes members of the States Assembly, consistently champion, which is that we must always do our absolute utmost to INCLUDE everybody and never seek to EXCLUDE anybody?”
In response, Deputy Dudley-Owen said the Committee does not permit the permanent exclusion of any child from education.
You can read the full Rule 14 questions and answers HERE.