IT SAYS much about the circumstances of the review of the island’s education services that the deputy chief minister was reassuring islanders yesterday that the Policy Council won’t be seeking to amend the delayed report.

Such is the concern about school performance – and of the department as a whole – that people are prepared to believe the worst in terms of possible cover-up and key parts of the document being edited out.

But more revealing is the reasons for the delay: to give Education, its minister and its director of education time to prepare for the release.

Prepare for what exactly remains to be seen but islanders should be under no illusion: the

Mulkerrin report is a performance review of the department as a whole.

It is looking at trends in exam results in the high schools over the years (declining) and how they compare with trends elsewhere locally and off island (poorly). It is asking how effectively Education has been managing the expectations it has of pupils (inadequate).

It also wanted to know what Education was doing about rectifying any deficiencies. That should be interesting given Education insists the outdated law which underpins an approach to providing education that the UK abandoned years ago is still fit for purpose in Guernsey.

If the deputy chief minister’s ‘no censorship’ promise is correct, the department faces its first truly independent overview since the current director of education took over.

Yes, there have been reviews but, as we revealed on Monday, they have been subject to manipulation, not least because Education at the time didn’t like difficult questions being asked and because the officials said their approach to management didn’t need scrutiny.

Well, they would, wouldn’t they?

It’s a far cry from the UK where critiques of schools and exam league tables are published and education authorities are also reviewed.

When the last high level report was released in October – an assessment of whether the Policy Council’s handling of the island’s public finances was up to scratch – the first politicians knew of its findings was when it went public.

Yet when it comes to Education, the minister and her officials demand time to assume the brace position: it’s not filling parents with confidence.