‘Review’ will duck the real issue
Wednesday 12th October 2011, 3:00PM BST.
A HEADLINE on our weekly Inside Politics column yesterday read: Accountability is the next big challenge. It was a six-word summary of an interview with the Treasury minister based on the value to the island of the States Strategic Plan, what it has achieved – and what more needs to be done.
The SSP is a significant piece of work and one that has the potential to put the ‘joined up’ into government locally but it is far from a complete item, the point the Treasury minister was making.
And just a moment’s reflection will indicate the scale of the journey ahead.
Guernsey’s public sector has the wherewithal to provide unbeatable services, efficiently delivered. That challenge was set by the consultants then known as Tribal after its specialists had done a first pass over the money-wasting, bureaucratic and fragmented silo system set up as an alternative to the Harwood report on the machinery of government.
With the financial transformation programme, time, and a change to the culture of the system, they argued, a much leaner, more efficient and focused operation could emerge and proudly claim unbeatable services, efficiently delivered.
That was in July 2009 and not only are islanders still waiting, they are now wondering whether they can believe what they are told by their political leaders.
The level of deceit about educational performance exposed by the GCSE figures – even the Policy Council was taken in – has been profoundly damaging. But there is no sign of atonement or even accountability.
As expected, those who oversaw the wholesale misleading of taxpayer and parent – and who were committed to withholding individual school exam performance statistics – remain in post.
Effectively, they were rescued by a review which has already started. And it is one guaranteed to be a whitewash.
The issues at Education are far wider than simple exam results and the terms of reference of the ‘review’ have been carefully formulated to avoid looking what’s at the heart of this: the management of the department.
Children, mums, dads, taxpayers continue to get a raw deal while no attempt is made to make officials or politicians responsible or hold them to account.
It is little short of a disgrace.
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Well yes, now we’re starting to get down to it – but unless you (yes you, Mr Press!) can find evidence of concrete examples of mismanagement, and thus show that the review’s terms need to be broadened, this piece is no more than tittle-tattle.
It’s probably no good sitting around waiting for another Jane Stephens to come along – the only reward she gets for her dogged perseverance is icy looks from her colleagues, and the public raking over her past.
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ChrisJ
Its not the job of the Press to go out and find the evidence, although I’m sure they will try. It should be the job of the inquiry to delve deep enough to get to the truth, whatever it is.
The Chief Minister’s words were “Root & Branch,” that to me means every aspect.
Perhaps the current terms of reference aren’t broad enough.
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I just hope that certain people come forward and say what needs to be said about Education’s severe management issues. The Press clearly know that this is the crux of the problem but are finding it hard to publish what they know.
It will be an absolute travesty if the true culprit manages to wriggle out of this. It simply cannot be allowed to happen.
Mr Editor, please, please keep up the pressure. Your aim is spot on.
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GM
What you say is absolutely correct.
The problem is that the man conducting the review is unlikely to know where to look, or who to speak with.
Most of the ex teachers in the States will tell you in private conversations of the systemic problems in education from the top man down. Sadly, they are, for whatever reasons, reluctant to speak out in public or in the States.
.
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Stephen
Thanks to the Press and to people like yourself and Jane Stephens, he has a very good idea who to speak to. Its imperative that he is given further names of other people with whom he must speak. Those people may not be prepared to speak out publicly, but the environment must be created for them to be able to speak to him, previous gagging order or not. The mere existence of any such gagging orders clearly indicates that there is information out there which a certain person is desperate to keep hidden.
One specific set of questions which MUST be asked and answered is:
1. What settlement figures have been paid to teachers and lecturers who have been in dispute?
2. From which public and other purses were those monies paid?
3. Who sanctioned these payments and where they were paid from?
The answers to questions 2 and 3 in particular will severely rattle several cages and cause lots of spluttering over their Sunday morning croissants, and rightly so.
It won’t be too hard to answer the questions now that DM knows where the treasure is buried. He should start with this issue as it will, shall we say, set the tone of exactly what’s been happening.
There is a big story here to be exposed and the Press know it.
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In my opinion there is no deceit and this is evident. What has been profoundly damaging is the misleading of the public due to the hype of this issue.
Even the policy council has now backed Carol Steere.
In my opinion there was no wholesale misleading of taxpayer and parent. Any parent or politician has always readily had access to the information on request and therefore clearly no one was committed to withholding individual exam performance statistics.
The matter of publishing different results has always been under consideration by the Education board in November. Results should be looked at in context and I’m sure the reviewer will do that.
I’m sure there would be no incentive for the well respected academic conducting the review to duck the real issue.
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ParentA
“Even the policy council has now backed Carol Steere.”
Public shows of solidarity by government officials during times of crisis is nothing new. Although sometimes genuine history has shown it is often little more than a face-saving smokescreen.
Time will tell what kind this one is.
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