Schools ‘need more power to tackle discipline’

NEW proposals will not give schools enough power to take action on assaults by students like the one which has left a Dublin teacher with a broken nose, the Dáil was told yesterday.

Fine Gael education spokesperson Olwyn Enright raised the incident in a debate on proposed changes to education legislation.

The Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007 would allow the nature of the misbehaviour and the safety of teachers and other students to be taken into account when appeals are taken by students against suspensions or expulsions.

Ms Enright said it is unacceptable that the bill does not make specific reference to students disciplined for violent behaviour or threatening violence.

She said that under British Department of Education guidelines, schools will not normally reinstate a student expelled for this reason.

“This is particularly appropriate, given the recent attack on a teacher at a school in Dublin. I understand that following this attack, a teacher has been left with a broken nose and several broken teeth,” Ms Enright said.

Chris Gavin, the teacher in question, was assaulted by a student whose phone he tried to confiscate last Friday. According to Teachers Union of Ireland assistant general secretary Declan Glynn, Mr Gavin was kicked by a second student when he had restrained the first student on the floor.

A 17-year-old Leaving Certificate student has been suspended from Deansrath Community College in Clondalkin as a result of the incident last week.

Ms Enright said she did not wish to speculate further on the case as it is being considered by the school board and under investigation by gardaí. But, she said, it was just the most recent example of violence against a teacher.

“The children and young people of today must learn that unacceptable behaviour at school, whether it is directed at teachers or their own peer students, will be tackled when and where it occurs,” she said.

The TD said she will table amendments on this aspect of the bill, introduced in the Dáil by Education Minister Mary Hanafin.

The changes it proposes to the 1998 Education Act would allow greater consideration to be given to the right to a proper learning environment for other students and teachers when appeals are being heard.

Labour Party education spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan said particular attention should be given to extending Youthreach programmes to the small percentage of 13-to-15-year-olds who have been expelled and are unsuitable for mainstream schools.