Education Minister Graham Cregeen has accused Children’s Champion Daphne Caine of not putting the interests of young people first.

A war of words has erupted over controversial plans to move St Thomas’s Church of England school to a co-location with Scoill Vallajeelt.

But there have been simmering tensions between the department and Mrs Caine for a while, with the department already unimpressed by Mrs Caine’s suggestion the Isle of Man should consider introducing school league tables.

After Mrs Caine criticised the co-location plans in the House of Keys last week, and compared the money being spent on that with how much had been allocated to St Mary’s RC School improvements, Mr Cregeen lost patience with the Garff MHK.

He said: ’It really concerns me that the Children’s Champion is not championing the needs of the children.’

From September, St Thomas’s is to ’co-locate’ with Scoill Vallajeelt, which is in Meadow Crescent, Douglas, after it was decided current site of the Church of England school, in Finch Road, was no longer fit for purpose.

While the schools will share the same site, they will remain separate. Each will have its own staff.

Mr Cregeen told the House of Keys last week that the co-location plans would cost about £125,000.

Meanwhile, in Tynwald next week he will seek permission to spend £3.6 million on a large extension and major alterations at St Mary’s School, also in Douglas.

Mrs Caine, who insisted her aim was to champion children’s rights, commented: ’I find it curious that the island’s acknowledged state religion is such a poor relation to St Mary’s Catholic School in terms of investment.’

She claimed it was ’unequal’, adding that she understood the Church of England had offered to give the Department of Education, Sport and Culture ’up to 50%’ of the proceeds of the sale of the current St Thomas’s building towards a new building - ’while the Catholic Church is not contributing to the building work at St Mary’s’.

She added: ’Can the minister say that this is honestly the best solution for a relocation of a school community; and did the Department not consider relocating them to their own premises?’

But Mr Cregeen hit back: ’At one point she asked a question about the spending of money, £125,000, on relocation, and then on the next question I am getting asked about building a new school.

’If we were to build a new school we would have to get the site, we would have to build it, that would be multi-million pounds.

’This is obviously the best move financially for the Isle of Man and for the children.’

He criticised ’misinformation’ that had been spread about the proposal and also dismissed an idea from Mrs Caine that the former Ballacloan School, in Demesne Road, could be used. She suggested pupils could head across Westmoreland Road to use the outdoor facilities at the new Henry Bloom Noble Primary School, as required.

’This is not being done on cost grounds, it is not about cost savings,’ he said. ’This is about a better education for the children.

’We have moved out of Ballacloan and we have moved out of [nearby] Fairfield. The reason they were moved out was that they were not fit for purpose.

’It really does concern me about where the member is coming from.’

He challenged Mrs Caine’s assertion that she had been contacted by numerous concerned parents, although Kate Beecroft (Douglas South) said she too had heard from a number of people.

In response to an earlier question, Mr Cregeen said the anticipated number on St Thomas’s rolls for the next school year was 61, up on this year’s figure of 58. Scoill Vallajeelt was anticipated to have almost identical numbers from this year to next.

However, Mrs Caine argued that figure could come down before the next school year, pointing out that projected numbers for St Thomas’s had previously been higher.

Mrs Caine, who criticised the department’s communication on the issue, also raised concerns that so far there was only a one-year commitment to a new bus service to take St Thomas’s pupils to the new location. She said the taxi fares being quoted for a week’s worth of travel came to £140.

Mr Cregeen said the bus situation would be kept under review.