A Liberation Day Message

In a parallel universe, somewhere very similar to here, an Island very like ours is celebrating their Liberation.

On this day, on this Island, their two most important politicians speak to their fellow Islanders.

This is one of those speeches.

"On this 69th anniversary of Guernsey's Liberation I am pleased to stand here as your Minister for Education representing all of those in our service committed to the future of the Island.

Our children are our future and it is the responsibility of all of us to see that they grow up as citizens we can be proud of, in an Island they can be proud of.
 
Our responsibility.
 
Not just parents, not just teachers, all of us.
 
We are the ones who have control of the environment in which they will grow up. The home, the school, the community; all are important and all need to reflect the values which we wish to instil into our children for the day when they in turn become parents.
 
The Department, which I stand here to represent, is full of hard working individuals who are committed to the ideal of Education. 

The provision of knowledge and life skills to those growing up within our Island community to equip them for a life which we can only dream about.
 
The wider society advances at a pace barely believable to those who stood here to welcome our liberating forces all those years ago and the technology we now take as everyday would border on the magical for them.
 
We recognise that we cannot train our children for a future we cannot yet discern but we will do our very best to create fully rounded individuals with the skills to adapt to changes in our community, our economy, and the wider world. Not only to adapt to change but to be promoters of such change for the betterment of their fellow Islanders.
 
But the job does not just rest on our shoulders. Those of you who are parents rightly bear the prime responsibility for bringing up your children to be sons and daughters you can be proud to call your own.
 
It is you who prepare your children for education; it is you who instil into your children a value of learning; it is you who instil a respect for their teachers. It is you who then give us, for a short time, the responsibility for the formal education of your children.
 
As your Minister for Education it is my job to ensure that we are deserving of your trust and respect. My job to ensure that we have an education system fit for purpose with a band of professionals equipped with the best skill and knowledge to teach your children.
 
As Minister, I recognise that I am an amateur. I have not spent years training to teach, years keeping up with the latest developments in practical education, or years working in front of classes each and every day. It is to these professionals that I turn for support and knowledge of how to constantly improve our schools and system for the betterment of our Island.
 
Yes, I can bring in UK experts and yes, I can look to the rest of the world for best practise but it is my colleagues who will know how to adapt this best practise for Guernsey.
 
That is why we at the Department constantly consult our colleagues at the chalkface. They are the ones delivering an education to your children. They are the ones who we must support each and every day to ensure that they have the very best chance of doing what they do best. Teaching.
 
That is their prime responsibility. To teach.
 
It is not their responsibility to bring up your children.  It is not their responsibility to give them love and understanding and to sort out their sometimes chaotic home lives.  It is not their responsibility to pick up the slack when some parents can’t or can’t be bothered to do the very things that make them a proper parent.
 
The fact that our teachers willingly continue to cover these responsibilities on a daily basis is a cry of shame to our wider society. Shame that we have produced a community where the employee is valued over the parent, where child-minding is valued over education, and where self gratification is valued over self sacrifice for the benefit of the future generation.
 
We at Education cannot address these wider problems which need be the concern of the States and society as a whole. We merely do the best we can for the child put in front of us.
 
Maybe we need to work harder.
 
It is a constant criticism that teachers only work half a day.
 
It is true that our teachers only spend five and a half hours a day with your children. Less than 28 hours a week. What you don’t see is the other 28 hours plus a week which is spent preparing for those hours in front of your offspring to ensure that each receives a personalised education suitable for their needs at that particular time in their school year.
 
Teachers don’t just mark books in their so called spare time. They reflect on what each child has taken from that lesson and prepare to take that child further on their educational journey or to retrace their steps over old ground to ensure that the skills so far not taken on board are re-examined and practised until learned.
 
Our teachers cannot and should not work nearly sixty hours a week or a six or seven day week.  If anything we should be looking to reduce their workload. Reduce class sizes and give them the time needed to do their job to the best of their ability.
 
But to do this we need money. Money which is just not available at present. Or should I say, money which is available but which goes elsewhere in accordance with the priorities set by you via your political representatives.
 
I am committed to showing the taxpayers of Guernsey that we in the Education Department are doing the best that we can with what you provide to us. Making the most of resourses and working as efficiently as we can. 

As a Department we are not yet in that position but this is my commitment to you today.
 
If I can show this efficiency and you still want a better education system, then you are going to have to give me more money. It’s as simple as that.
 
I want an education system fit for the 21st century. Fit for educating our children so that they can take their place in our society and contribute to making Guernsey a better place to live. A system which is the envy of similar sized jurisdictions throughout the world.
 
In 1945 we were given back our freedom.  In 2014 I want to give our children the freedom of a free eduction which will benefit them for their lifetime. That is my commitment to you and to those who follow you.
 
An education for every child. An education which will allow every child to take advantage of the opportunities which will be presented to them regardless of their background or upbringing.
 
As citizens of the Island community which we celebrate today I call on each and every one of you to support these aims. To do all that you can to support our future generations.
 
If I may adapt the words of President Kennedy who said it better than I ever can.
 
“Ask not what your Island can do for you — ask what you can do for your Island.”

It is only with your committed support that we can achieve the aim of providing a first rate education for our children. Give us that support and help us to do the job.

Help me to stand here next year and report that we are on the way to becoming the society we aspire to being with an education system which is fast becoming the envy of all of our neighbours everywhere.

Happy Liberation Day. "


Maybe we can learn something from our parallel twin?