Education Minister El James needs to come clean on why he "wasn't happy with progress being made" at CedarBridge Academy.

This is according to Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons who said Mr. James' comments raised more questions than answers.

On Monday, the Minister held a press conference after he sacked CedarBridge's board chairman George Scott and deputy chairman Lovitta Foggo last Friday.

The Minister refused to elaborate on why Ms Foggo was fired.

However, Mr. James confirmed that part of the reason Mr. Scott was fired was because he had served as chairman beyond the time allowed.

After they were sacked all the other members of the board reesigned.

Yesterday, Dr. Gibbons said: "What lack of progress is he talking about? What goals were not achieved? More importantly how has all this affected education standards and staff at CedarBridge?

"Parents and the public deserve a much better explanation than this after the two most senior board members have been fired and many others resign."

He continued: "The community can clearly see that there are serious underlying issues involving the board and they seem to have been going on for the better part of the year.

"But unless the Minister moves to clear the air and gives a real explanation, then the allegations about financial and other management problems are likely to continue.

"CedarBridge is a critical part of the public education system and we cannot afford to have the education of its students disrupted."

Mr. Scott was terminated via a letter sent from Mr. James.

The letter said he had served more than two consecutive terms as board chairman and according to the Education Act 1996, that was not legal.

Mr. Scott was asked to vacate the position immediately.

Dr. Gibbons also said Mr. James' "inadequate explanation" was contrary to the Ministry's promise to "improve standards via accountability and transparency".

This was a key part of the Ministry's five-year strategic plan which was launched in April.

"If the Minister is not prepared to be transparent about the underlying governance issues at CedarBridge then how can he effectively hold others within the system accountable for transparency?

"Another 'strategic priority' in the five-year plan is to 'maximise the contribution of parents and the community by developing meaningful partnerships'.

"But how can you have meaningful partnerships when you won't tell parents or the community what's really going on and why it was allowed to get to this point?"

He continued: "The bottom line is the Minister needs to move quickly to both reassure parents and the public and restore some order at the board level to make sure that student education does not continue to be compromised by this ongoing governance crisis."