Teachers to report suspected abuse under draft code of conduct

TEACHERS will have to report suspected abuse or other issues affecting student welfare under a draft code of conduct being considered for the profession.

The Teaching Council has drafted the code of professional conduct in its role as the regulatory body for teachers, and will have powers to decide on fitness to practice in the same manner as the Medical Council can investigate allegations against doctors.

The draft is being circulated for discussion, along with a code of professional practice, ahead of finalised codes being published early next year. A series of regional meetings where teachers can debate the codes will be held in the coming months.

A key focus of the code of conduct will be student welfare, with one of the nine points of the code stating that teachers should take care of those under their supervision with the aim of ensuring their safety and welfare as far as is reasonably practicable.

The code goes on to say that teachers should “respect confidential information relating to colleagues, students and families gained in the course of professional practice, unless the wellbeing of an individual or a legal imperative requires disclosure.”

This would allow school teachers to report suspected abuse, or bring family circumstances which could impact on a child’s welfare to the attention of the health authorities. This is in line with current reporting procedures, which already oblige teachers to tell a designated staff member in each school if a child claims to have been abused.

However, the code also appears to allow a teacher report information they have about a colleague, where the other teacher’s health or welfare, or that of a student might be a concern.

Under the legislation by which it was set up, the Teaching Council has investigative disciplinary functions in relation to allegations of unprofessional conduct, with powers to hold hearings and rule on a teacher’s fitness to work. Where allegations of the codes being breached are upheld, a teacher can be struck off the register permanently or for a period.

Since being set up in 2000, the equivalent body in England has held more than 260 disciplinary hearings and struck off 47 teachers for incidents which have included swearing at students, defrauding school funds, and assaulting students.

The Irish Teaching Council has already begun registering the country’s 55,000 teachers, a role previously undertaken by the Department of Education and has facilitated background vetting of teachers registering for the first time this year. This will be extended to existing teachers in time although the council is still considering how convictions disclosed to them by the Garda Central Vetting Unit should be treated when assessing a person’s suitability to register as a teacher.