The Manx TaxPayers’ Alliance has extensively documented the continuing crisis caused by the failure of the Isle of Man Government to fully deliver one of the most important public services in our community: schooling. Today, another school, Ramsey Grammar School, is reported as being unable to fully provide schooling.
This is particularly galling for families because over the last five years, the number of non-teaching/lecturing staff employed by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture has increased by 40%. The number of teaching/lecturing staff has remained steady.
Two high schools send pupils home due to staff absence
The education minister says she’ll have to look at other ways of keeping students in school if rising Covid-19 cases put further pressure on staffing.
Schools told to ask government for help if Covid situation worsens
Here’s an idea for the Department of Education, Sport and Culture: Instead of increasing non-teacher/lecturer numbers by 40% over the last five years, could you hire enough teachers to deliver the core mission of providing an education system?