The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Education and Children is to retire at the end of August.
Stuart Dobson, who will be 61, has headed the Department since January 2011, when he succeeded the then Director of Education and Children. He has worked for the DEC for eight years and, prior to his appointment as CEO, was Senior Adviser and then Deputy Director of Education.
Stuart has worked in education for 40 years as a teacher, headteacher, trainer, adviser and inspector. He has worked for a number of local authorities in the UK and has worked in both Germany and Saudi Arabia.
As CEO, he has responsibility for the Island’s 39 schools, the Isle of Man College of Further and Higher Education and the education improvement, services for children, corporate services, finance, youth and estates divisions.
He has very much enjoyed heading a busy and diverse Department, which has a workforce of some 2183 staff deployed across 72 centres, plus more than 500 supply and relief staff.
He said:
‘I have really enjoyed working with schools and the College and feel that, together, over the past eight years, we have achieved a lot to be proud of. I am so impressed now when I go to schools and the College. I genuinely believe that learning and the wellbeing of children and young people are at their core. Our provision is richer and more vibrant than many places elsewhere.’
Stuart and his wife Eileen live in Kirk Michael. They have two sons, one an actuary who is just about to move from London to Canada to work and the other an accountant in Douglas.
Following his retirement, Stuart plans to ‘sleep more, do a lot of work with bricks and mortar’ and travel more frequently. The CEO’s post will be advertised shortly.
