Grant aided Schools: grants (P.72/2011) – amendment (P.72/2011 Amd.) – comments.

STATES OF JERSEY

GRANT AIDED SCHOOLS: GRANTS (P.72/2011) – AMENDMENT (P.72/2011 Amd.) – COMMENTS

Presented to the States on 7th June 2011

by the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture

STATES GREFFE

2011   Price code: A  P.72 Amd.Com.

COMMENTS

Firstly,  I  would  like  to  advise  members  that  I  cannot  support  Senator  Shenton's proposition as it is flawed, and I will be urging members to reject it. A more detailed comment on Senator Shenton's proposition has already been published, and I will confine these comments to the amendment that has been brought by Deputy de Sousa. One of the main virtues of Deputy de Sousa's amendment is that it does not seek to distinguish between the fee-paying and non-fee-paying sectors.

I fully support the aim of this amendment and the sentiments expressed by Deputy De Sousa, who has recognised the extremely valuable range of services provided by the  non-fee-paying  sector.  These  operate on  the  principle  of inclusion  across  the ability range, and make full provision for students with Special Needs. As Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, I have an obligation under the Education (Jersey) Law 1999 to ensure that there is available to every child of compulsory school age a full time education appropriate to their age, ability and aptitude'.

Senator Shenton's proposition, if adopted, would effectively increase the pressure on our States schools to deliver reductions in expenditure, whilst the fee-paying sector would  be  exempt  from  savings.  This  would  only  serve  to  heighten  the  division between the 2 sectors.

I believe that it is unfair to target one school group or sector in this way, and would place me in conflict with my duty to provide a good standard of education to all children of school age, and not just to those in the fee-paying sector.

Account also needs to be given to the context in which the current spending proposals have been advanced. The non-fee-paying sector has been the subject of significant spending reductions over the last 10 years, and over the coming years it will be required to make further savings of approximately 10%.

The fee-paying sector, in contrast, has not been asked to make major savings over the same  period, and  it  is  only  fair that  it  should  also  be  expected  to  play  its  part. Education, Sport and Culture is required to make £11.1 million in savings across its services,  and  I  do  not  believe  the fee-paying  sector  should  be  exempt  from  this process.

In recent months, there has been a divisive debate about fee-paying and non-fee- paying education, with ill-founded statements being made about examination results in our 11–16 schools, drawing from narrow measures of assessment that do not properly reflect the context in which our Island schools are operating.

Following further discussions with the Council of Ministers, an extended period of 5 years has been agreed for both the fee-paying and non-fee-paying schools.

The  States  schools  have,  over  many  years,  demonstrated  their  willingness  to participate in expenditure reductions where appropriate. It is now time for the fee- paying schools to play their part.

Deputy De Sousa's amendment will provide a degree of fairness and equity to the debate. It is absolutely right that we take this opportunity to give a clear signal to our States schools that their contribution to the Island's education is equally as important as fee-paying schools and is valued by this Assembly.

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Statement under Standing Order 37A [Presentation of comment relating to a proposition]

Due to the need to discuss the amendment with other parties, the comment was not approved by the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture until Monday morning.

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