EDUCATION board members are facing calls to resign following their student loans U-turn. John Gollop and Sam Maindonald were the first to demand the resignation of minister Martin Ozanne and his deputy, Wendy Morgan, in the wake of last week’s States debate.
Education went into it proposing its budget be increased by £2.5m. a year to cover a shortfall in higher education funding, but the two senior members had a change of heart during the debate and backed loans.
Deputy Ozanne is unrepentant.
‘I can understand that there would be some States members who now really wonder where the board stood,’ he said.
‘I have always considered student loans as an eventuality. The question was, was it available at this time?
‘Obviously when the chairperson of the working party, my deputy minister, made the announcement she was changing her mind it put me in a difficult position. She’s always been very vocal not to support loans but go for the money. In voting the way I did, I was being very true to myself. At no time had I said it’s got to be more money and student loans are unacceptable.’
He added that tuition fees were going to rise by more than RPI by the time they are renegotiated in 2009. The extra £2.5m. would then not be enough, he added.
‘I believe we got a very good financial deal on behalf of our students. I don’t think a future board would have been able to achieve such a good deal from Treasury and Resources in the future. Therefore, I used my head and not my heart and I informed the House I would support the student loans option.’
He said that was what debate and democracy were about.
‘For those who say we want you to stand down, I think perhaps that’s going far too far and the majority of the House did support the loan option,’ he said.
‘I can understand them being a bit miffed. I thought about it over the weekend and I’m even more convinced it would in the end in the right way.’
Sometimes difficult decisions needed to be made, he added.
‘I could foresee I would be accused of a U-turn, but sometimes you have to be big enough to do that.’
Deputy Gollop said that Education had had a muted response at the last public meeting on the issue because people believed it was fighting for the students.
It was either time for the team to get a new mandate or for new people to take on the responsibility, he said.
‘To go on for the next six months with a department that’s, accidentally maybe, politically discredited itself is very difficult,’ he said.
‘It comes up at the same time as the full review of the Education management. There really does need to be a new approach there.’
He added there had been ‘a kind of political misleading’ of the public.
Deputy Gollop would add his name to any requete calling for the decision to be changed or for a new team at Education.
And other Education members deputies David Grut and Dan Le Cheminant voted for increasing the grant as they had expected their senior members to do. Deputy Le Cheminant is known to be reflecting on his position.
Deputy Maindonald backed calls for the top two to resign.
‘They should go. It’s the second time I feel that they have publicly not stood by students and education in this island. The last time was the public meeting at the Grammar School. On that basis they should consider their position.’
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