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Get ready for the next round
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That political slogan proclaiming the formula for any society’s long-term success was coined by a now defunct UK government, but its enduring essential truth may be applied around the world. In Jersey, debate over the structure of our idiosyncratic education system is a recurring, difficult and potentially bitter process, demanding careful analysis and cool heads. It comes round every ten years or so – and here it comes again.
This time the way is being carefully prepared by an understandably edgy Education department with the publication of a document entitled Learning for Tomorrow’s World, which appears to fall somewhere between a public consultation and a mission statement and has already been dismissed by the relevant Scrutiny chairman, Deputy Roy Le Herissier, as a meaningless waste of paper.
That is, perhaps, a little harsh. It is true that, unlike the recent green paper on the future of the health services, this new document does not spell out Education’s preferred options and contains many pages of congratulation and vague aspiration.
It does, however, include at least two statements that will do much to put the next round of the big debate on a rather different footing to some of its predecessors. One is the tacit admission that GCSE results in the 11-16 secondary schools are not as good as they should be or as, for many years, parents and taxpayers were led to believe they were.
The other is the long overdue assertion that Jersey, as an independent jurisdiction, does not always have to look to the UK for a role model or a benchmark. Indeed it does not and nor, in this case, should it. That is particularly true now that the big picture includes important questions to resolve over university tuition fees and how to ensure that Jersey graduates can return to pursue careers in Jersey.
In fairness, the document claims only to be a scene-setter for future detailed debate. Anyone with an interest in the Island’s future would be well advised to start preparing now for that debate, which will take place under the auspices of a new States Assembly and, probably, a new Education Minister.
The words may be deliberately vague, but it is easy enough to read between the lines the stirrings of a familiar Education Department agenda and another coming assault on the principles of academic selection which, bolstered by a unique tradition of public-private partnership and a wealth of successful and much valued institutions from nursery to tertiary education, remain a vital part of an overall success story.
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