Corpun file 20174

St Helena Herald, Jamestown, 25 April 2008

St Helena Exco Report for 22 April 2008

By H.E. the Governor Mr. Andrew Gurr

(extracts)

This was my tenth EXCO meeting and was by far the longest, lasting from 9.30am until 2 pm. The reason for that was the substantial nature of much of the business. Councillor Reid deputised for Councillor Drabble who is representing us abroad. There were no members of the public present and so the open part and the closed part of the meeting consisted of only the members and officials.
[...]

Next was a 39 page Bill on the subject of Education, and it was presented by Councillor Eric Benjamin. There has not been a revised Education Bill since 1989 and this one is substantial and far reaching.

Much of what it contains reflects the modern education system today. The headline is I suppose the increase in the school leaving age to 16. This is long overdue, and will mean that every pupil on the island should leave school with certificated qualifications that will fit them for life and higher earnings than would otherwise have been the case. The Bill also ensured that no pupil can be caned, a measure that some of us in the room wished had been applied many years ago! The Bill was accepted and will now be printed for public consultation before coming back to Legislative Council.

[...]