Schools welcome greater power to discipline pupils

SCHOOLS will have greater power to discipline and expel unruly students under changes to education law which will give more weight to the rights of other students and teachers.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin hopes to have the bill, published yesterday, passed before the summer.

The effect will be seen in the appeals process open to students who have been suspended or expelled from school for bad behaviour. Under existing procedures, an appeals committee set up by the Department of Education gives priority to the right of the student concerned to an education.

But they may now also take into account:

* the educational interests of other students

* the nature, scale and extent of the behaviour

* the reasonableness of efforts made by the school

* the safety and welfare of teachers and students

* school policies and codes of behaviour and their compliance with guidelines.

“The aim is to provide a clearly stated framework within which an appeals committee must determine an appeal and provide for a balancing of rights between the educational interests of the student who is taking an appeal and the educational interests of the school community,” Ms Hanafin said.

The bill arises from recommendations in the report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level School published last March.

The changes it will make to Section 29 of the 1998 Education Act, which also covers appeals where a school refuses a child enrolment, have been welcomed by teachers but they also want further measures to tackle indiscipline.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland general secretary John White referred to the task force’s recommendations for smaller class sizes and more time for assistant principals to deal with student behaviour.

“Resource implications should not be presented as a barrier to the realisation of the rights of the majority of students to learn in classrooms free from serious disruption,” he said.

Irish National Teachers’ Organisation general secretary John Carr said the result must be the maintenance of a school environment which supports continuous learning.

The task force also recommended the establishment of a National Behaviour Support Service, which is now starting to work with around 50 schools to help tackle discipline problems.

Mr White welcomed the fact that the same bill also re-affirms Ms Hanfin’s opposition to school league tables based on Junior and Leaving Certificate results by giving the State Examinations Commission the same legal right to refuse access to such information.