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Education: A fair comparison?
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Referring to recently published statistics revealing how each of the Island’s secondary schools performed in this summer’s GCSE exams, he suggested that Grainville, Le Rocquier and Haute Vallée were failing. In doing so, he called into question Jersey’s education system in which around 45 per cent of GCSE pupils attend selective or fee-paying schools.
Prof Sallis warned that the three ‘failing’ schools would now be subject to intervention if they were in the UK, because they had failed to meet government targets for the number of pupils who achieved the standard benchmark of five GCSEs at grades A-C, including the core subjects of English and maths.
The UK target is 40 per cent. At Le Rocquier, 24.4 per cent of pupils achieved the UK benchmark, compared to 21.6 per cent at Grainville and 15.4 per cent at Haute Vallée. Prof Sallis said that senior teachers at these schools would be at risk of losing their jobs. Perhaps surprisingly, he failed to mention that even UK state schools in deprived areas have a broad range of academic ability because only seven per cent of pupils go to selective schools.
Prof Sallis is right to raise for debate an issue which is so central to the future prosperity of Jersey. However, simplistic comparisons with the UK, which do not account for the significant differences in their respective education systems, can create more problems than they solve.
To unfairly brand children or teachers as ‘failing’ will do little to raise attainment. Due pressure should certainly be put on schools to raise standards, but the really pertinent question of whether Jersey’s whole idiosyncratic education system itself is failing must also be considered in any comparison with other jurisdictions.
There are no easy answers. We must provide our most able young people, whatever their background, with a first-class academic education. We must also ensure that sufficient support is given to the less able to reach their potential.
As Education Minister, Deputy James Reed grabbed this political hot potato by launching a root-and-branch review of education with the publication of a Green Paper. However, little has happened since. Strong leadership is now needed to oversee a debate which must grapple with the myriad of issues – not least the controversial questions of school fees and selection – to ensure that we give all Island children the best start in life.
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