Latest news with #DaphneCaine
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
School review cost 'not in public interest'
Publishing the costs of a contract with an education review provider could reduce the government's ability to get "best value for money" in future, the education minister has said. Daphne Caine has defended her department's decision not to release the amount paid to external validators Etio in response to a Tynwald question for written answer. She told the House of Keys that as her department was in the second of a three year contract with the firm it was "not in the public interest" to release the information. But MHK Lawrie Hooper said the costs were "routinely made available by the UK in relation to the exact company and the services they provide". Hooper said the rationale was "nonsense", and said based on figures released by the UK government indicated the Manx services would "probably cost between £150,000 and £250,000". Cain suggested she could share the figure confidentially with the Public Accounts Committee. During Tuesday's sitting, Kate Lord-Brennan called for the minister to provide a cost range for the report, arguing releasing the information was about "education delivery, standards, and public money, not about Etio". Chris Thomas MHK said it was "unusual" not to share the costs even when a contract was live, and noted that Treasury had published the terms of contracts in the past. Concerns were also raised by Julie Edge MHK, who said she did not understand why there was "so much resistance when it is such an important piece of work for our schools". Tim Glover MHK questioned how released the figure confidentially would restore and maintain public confidence. Caine said it was not in the public interest if it "breached" commercial confidentiality, and the competitiveness of future bids was "compromised". She said the department would "likely" go out for tender in the next six months, and sharing the cost could limit the "commercial competitiveness so that all bids come in within a ball park". That was "not serving the best interest of the Isle of Man community", she said. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X. School reviews 'foundation' for future improvement School review framework to be published in July Manx school processes external reviews to begin Covid review backs up teachers' concerns - union Department for Education, Sport and Culture Tynwald
BBC News
16 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Sharing Isle of Man school review cost 'not in public interest'
Publishing the costs of a contract with an education review provider could reduce the government's ability to get "best value for money" in future, the education minister has Caine has defended her department's decision not to release the amount paid to external validators Etio in response to a Tynwald question for written told the House of Keys that as her department was in the second of a three year contract with the firm it was "not in the public interest" to release the MHK Lawrie Hooper said the costs were "routinely made available by the UK in relation to the exact company and the services they provide". Hooper said the rationale was "nonsense", and said based on figures released by the UK government indicated the Manx services would "probably cost between £150,000 and £250,000".Cain suggested she could share the figure confidentially with the Public Accounts Committee. During Tuesday's sitting, Kate Lord-Brennan called for the minister to provide a cost range for the report, arguing releasing the information was about "education delivery, standards, and public money, not about Etio".Chris Thomas MHK said it was "unusual" not to share the costs even when a contract was live, and noted that Treasury had published the terms of contracts in the past. Concerns were also raised by Julie Edge MHK, who said she did not understand why there was "so much resistance when it is such an important piece of work for our schools".Tim Glover MHK questioned how released the figure confidentially would restore and maintain public said it was not in the public interest if it "breached" commercial confidentiality, and the competitiveness of future bids was "compromised".She said the department would "likely" go out for tender in the next six months, and sharing the cost could limit the "commercial competitiveness so that all bids come in within a ball park".That was "not serving the best interest of the Isle of Man community", she said. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Public asked for views about Isle of Man education act proposals
Giving schools the power to restrict admissions, adding protections for looked-after children, and making changes to religious education are just three areas in which the Isle of Man's education department is asking the public about.A six-week consultation by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc) wants to hear residents' views on the updated draft Education Act. It also asks about plans for specialist education centres and emergency school closures, as well as grants and Daphne Caine said: "I encourage all stakeholders - educators, parents and members of the public - to participate" in the consultation, which closes on 15 June. The Education Act forms part of government's longer term Island Plan to give "every child" the "opportunity to thrive and succeed", she published in 2022, the Island Plan has since been updated consultation exercise builds upon a similar survey conducted last year. 'Increasing strain' One area of the consultation asks about establishing education facilities "outside of traditional school premises under certain conditions".These would be to cater for children "who may not be able to access a conventional school environment" or who are "at risk of significant harm", it alternative provision centre could offer "a multi-agency approach" to provide "comprehensive support".Proposed changes to education for looked-after children include the creation of a virtual would "allow the department to promote the educational achievement of children aged five to 19" who are subject to various care would also give the department the "legal mandate to continue to support these children" after compulsory school age until they are 19 if they remain in education". 'Restrict admissions' The questionnaire also addresses issues in highly populated areas of the said there was "increasing strain in certain schools... due to the increasing number of children living in the catchment areas".There are proposals are to give institutions the powers to restrict admissions if they have reached change could modernise the religious education curriculum, to include faiths outside of proposals include:The department could be given the power to make emergency school closuresOfficial terminology would be updated from "special education" to "additional education"Bursaries would be introduced for training in fields "critical to national interests" such as nursing and teaching Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Action plan created to tackle issues in Manx schools
A new group made up of leaders in education across the Isle of Man are to create an "action plan" to tackle issues identified in an external schools report, the education minister has said. The Educational Leadership Team (ELT) is to be formed after external validators Etio published its first annual 12 months it looked at 14 schools and one educational service, in a process expected to take three years to include all of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) Minister Daphne Caine said the ELT would look at "how best to assist all our schools and the educational system on the island generally". A framework for the external evaluations began last year is due to be published in July, which is to be rolled out to all schools and other educational settings by July said ELT will be made up of primary and secondary school leaders, representatives of University College Isle of Man, and departmental officers. 'Continuous improvement' Challenges identified in the annual report noted issues with attendance, the transition from primary to secondary school, and addressing diverse learning needs. Caine said the new team would be reporting on a monthly basis to the department with observations on both strengths and weaknesses alongside any recommendations. She said they would look at "the way we teach, what we teach" and the "engagement of students, particularly in the first years of secondary school". She explained that schools had their own individual development plans and would also "monitor themselves", while every three years undergoing the external validations process."Continuous improvement is what this is all about," she was also important, Caine said, to look at play-based learning in early years education. She said the ELT will be "putting together the prioritisation and an action plan to address the challenges that have been identified". Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Isle of man school meals report branded 'meaningless' by MHK
A report on school meals on the Isle of Man that saw redactions on more than 80% of its pages has been branded "completely meaningless" by an MHK The document, published in March, looks at areas such as the operating model and costs saw large sections of the text and in some cases full pages blacked Faragher MHK said the review had a "significant level of both political and public interest" but "no one can get any information" out of what has been Minister Daphne Caine said while the report had not been produced "in a way that could made public", the details were "informing policy" on the issue. The 2023 School Meals Review, originally drafted for internal use by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc), confirmed £2,522,000 was spent on the service in the academic year 2022-2023. But the publicly available version of the document has removed a list of 24 recommended improvements to the service, considerations of a new model and the details of potential alternatives, and a suggested five-year on more than 120 pages of the 147-page report can not be viewed. 'In development' In Tuesday's sitting of the House of Keys, Lawrie Hooper MHK said: "The fact the department has decided to redact everything related to the development and formulation of policy is somewhat absurd."He asked how Tynwald members were expected to engage with the review all politicians could see was "pages upon pages of blacked out text".Tim Glover MHK said the "excessive redactions" undermined public scrutiny and called for the minister to explain what steps were being taken "by the secret squirrel department" to improve transparency on the publication of official told members the report had originally been produced to "inform department policy" and as such "prior to its publication it was treated as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request".In line with FOI exemptions on formulation of policy, conduct of public business, personal information and commercial interests, aspects of the report has been removed, she minister told members school meals policy was "very much in development" and therefore it would be "inappropriate and a bit irresponsible to put that in the public domain" before the details had been she said key areas of focus for Desc would be a reduction in the use of ultra-processed food, using more local produce, reducing food waste and conducting parental and student surveys on meal choices, which had been outlined in the annual departmental plan. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
