Crackdown urged on disruptive students

THE Government was yesterday urged by Fine Gael to crack down on disruptive students who are carrying offensive weapons, threatening teachers and assaulting fellow pupils.

The party claimed current legislation undermines the authority of schools to expel seriously disruptive students.

Fine Gael spokeswoman on education and science, Olwyn Enright TD, called on the Government to publish the final report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour, compiled under the chairmanship of Maeve Martin.

Ms Enright said she was concerned at some of the incidents notified to the task force.

"They were of such a serious nature as to be considered criminal behaviour."

She was speaking in advance of a Fine Gael motion to be discussed in the Dáil this week, highlighting growing indiscipline in schools.

"The publication of the Interim Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour last July highlighted the challenges teachers face in tackling unacceptable behaviour at school, and shows the fall-out from classroom disruption is serious for all students."

She said the task force also stressed the serious negative effect that unacceptable and disruptive behaviour can have on the educational attainment of all students in the classroom.

"In this regard, we must accept that disruptive students do not have the right to undermine other young people's educational opportunities."

The report noted that many schools were deeply frustrated with Section 29 of the Education Act 1998.

"In the majority of cases, Section 29 is used to undermine the authority of schools in expelling seriously disruptive students. This can lead to schools being forced to accept as students young people previously expelled for seriously disruptive behaviour," Ms Enright said.

"In these cases, the students return to the school secure in the knowledge that there is no real action that the authorities can take against their unacceptable behaviour."

The Laois/Offaly TD said discipline problems in schools reduced the performance of students as a whole, and lead to the potential loss of teachers from the profession.

She said it was time Education Minister Mary Hanafin "showed some political leadership" and publish the Government's legislative response to tackling school discipline problems.

Fine Gael will be putting forward a Private Members' Motion in the Dáil to debate the issues. The party also wants the Government to put in place specific measures to make schools good places to teach and to learn, including the implementation of a national anti-bullying strategy.