Falklands : FIRS THROWS THE SPOTLIGHT ON RICHARD FOGERTY
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 20.01.2012 (Article Archived on 03.02.2012)
Stacey Bragger (FIRS) interviewed Richard Fogerty (RF), Assistant Director of Education about a proposed review of the Education ordinance. He asked Mr Fogerty why he felt the ordinance should be updated.
FIRS THROWS THE SPOTLIGHT ON RICHARD FOGERTY
A Report for FIRS by Stacey Bragger (SB) Monday, 16 January 2012
Intro by J. Brock (FINN)
Stacey Bragger (FIRS) interviewed Richard Fogerty (RF), Assistant Director of Education about a proposed review of the Education ordinance. He asked Mr Fogerty why he felt the ordinance should be updated.
RF: First of all, I must make it clear that this is a proposal. It went to the Education Board; it hasn’t gone anywhere else. At the moment the department is looking at the Education Ordinance. It was written 22 years ago and it has been amended on a number of occasions and certainly the Attorney General’s office has incorporated those amendments. The education ordinance is a tool that helps us to revive the education that we want to provide for the Islands. Things have changed – there is a new constitution. We have a director of Health and Education – the expectations of the community have certainly increased in the number of people we refer to the education ordinance. David Jenkins and I have discussed this in broad terms so we feel now is the time to be looking at the document and what may be required to make it fit for purpose. It’s been on the cards for quite a long time and it crops up in our business plans and our personal performance appraisals year after year and basically we don’t have the time or staff to get the thing up and running. So this is a suggestion as to a possible way forward. We haven’t discussed it beyond the Education Board. They looked at it and advised the Director.
SB: Are there areas of the ordinance that are felt to be particularly in need of being reviewed and looked at?
RF: The document, when it was written in 1989 was fairly ground-breaking then. It did a lot to bring it up to date. The whole picture with regard to special needs, entitlements to further and higher education, who is entitled and what can be asked to pay for and all these sorts of things. Of course, things like holding residential status impacts so much on what we do. Also it is about the role of the community in education. Recently we experienced where we had missed the impact of the constitution and the role of the Governor and all the rest of it. But then when we are looking at it – you can’t sit on the Education Board if you are employed in a department controlled by that director. When it was written that director was the Director of Education. Now the Director of Education has Health and Social Services, so it has an impact. We need to look at some of these issues and see if there are things the community would like to see addressed. Also we want to look at best practice elsewhere. That doesn’t mean just the UK. We are looking at something that is right for the Falklands as the 1989 one was right for the Falklands then.
SB: If this is approved and goes through the budget process and goes ahead, how is it anticipated that this work would take place?
RF: David and I have discussed this and we suggested the idea that it could be offered out to some sort of tendering process. There may be very good reasons, as it goes through the processes and all the rest of it as to why that’s not felt why it is the appropriate way forward. We will be guided by everybody that is involved. I don’t think we see this as something that’s going to happen overnight. It does have to link in with a lot of work that the Attorney General’s Chambers already has to do in drafting legislation and what have you. It’s been there for quite a long time so I don’t think we can suddenly expect people to drop everything at our behest.
SB: Do you think there’s a potential for major changes in the way the education system works from this or will it just be a case of reflecting current practice?
RF: I wouldn’t really expect that anything will be turned upside-down. I think we actually have a very good system essentially that works well for most people. There are issues that we need to address as a community and I have already mentioned those so I would see it more as a case of reflecting best practice – not just our best practice – if we start to do research on what other people do elsewhere we may come up with ideas. But I wouldn’t see major changes.
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