A MHK has said overcrowding in Douglas schools could be tackled by scrapping catchment areas and having one sixth form for both Douglas secondary schools.

Chris Thomas suggested this in a House of Keys sitting on Tuesday after fellow MHK Ann Corlett asked about capacity issues in high schools across the island.

Education Minister Julie Edge said that the pupil population in the east was higher than any other area in the island and to alleviate capacity issues sixth form collaboration would need to be considered and catchment areas would need to be changed.

Ms Edge mentioned catchment area legislation ‘is under review’. Currently, parents who wish for their children to attend a school outside their catchment area must complete an out-of-area catchment request.

She said the intention is to bring legislation forward this parliamentary year so Henry Bloom Noble School and Scoill Yn Jubilee will be catchment areas for Ballakermeen and St Ninian’s, and Braddan School will be a joint catchment area for QEII, St Ninian’s and Ballakermeen.

Mr Thomas asked: ‘Would the minister agree with me that looking at the catchment area issue completely will include getting rid of catchment areas and it might include having a sixth form centre for Douglas rather than sharing sixth forms?’

He told the Manx Independent that the Voltaire Society, a Ballakermeen student body, has invited Mrs Corlett and himself to speak on this.

‘At Ballakermeen there is excessive use of mobile classrooms and everything is cramped and excessively busy, which affects students, teachers and the local community,’ Mr Thomas said after the sitting.

‘At Bemahague there is space for extra students and also the building was planned to be extendible with a new wing at the back, and traffic flow could be improved with new access too.

‘St Ninian’s High School is best placed for road access which would suit some sixth formers, would have space for parking but is in need of a refurbishment.’

The MHK mentioned that he had addressed these issues in his manifesto which stated he would prioritise ‘re-designing Douglas secondary education to deal with expansion opportunities at Bemahague which are missing at the Ballakermeen High School site’.

‘This could involve adjusting central Douglas Ballakermeen catchment and enhancing sixth form cooperation,’ the manifesto said.

Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse made the point in another question on learning environments that the ‘structure of buildings is a limiting factor’ with a ‘lack of appropriate space’ since ‘student numbers have increased’.

The education minister said her department would be looking at class sizes and acknowledged there is a problem with constrained teaching spaces.

Ballakermeen High School is currently about 300 students over capacity which could be causing an impact on learning and wellbeing, according to Douglas Central MHK Ann Corlett.

Ms Edge added: ‘We need to look at this overall to make sure that going forward we’ve got a full strategic infrastructure needs assessment for schools in all areas of the island.’