Threat of sanction if schools ignore charter

Schools which fail to comply with a new charter for parents and students could face Department of Education intervention, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said.

Mr Quinn told the National Parents’ Council- Primary annual conference that forthcoming legislation will now also include principles to underpin the charter he first announced last summer.

He said the contents of the parents’ and students’ charter should be subject to consultation with all education partners, but he expects it to lead to a system in which schools must consult with parents and students on policies in areas such as:

* healthy eating;

* codes of behaviour;

* enrolment and anti- bullying policies;

* weight of school bags;

* book rental schemes;

* use of technology.

The amendments will set out the principles that should apply in the relationship between schools, their students and parents, but will also give the minister power to publish the statutory guidelines.

“I plan to create a power for the minister to make regulations in order to deal with schools that do not properly operate these statutory guidelines,” he said.

It is understood that this could give the department authority to direct schools to take action on a particular situation that is brought to its attention, or to adopt specific policies. Currently, the department is restricted in the degree to which it can do so, often having to tell parents that issues are a matter for the school board only.

The charter will effectively be a set of statutory guidelines, to be based on principles Mr Quinn intends to insert into the 1998 Education Act. This will be done through an addition to the Admissions to Schools Bill, which is currently being drafted.

However, the bill might not be published before Mr Quinn’s strongly-anticipated replacement in the Cabinet reshuffle that is expected to follow next month’s vote on Eamon Gilmore’s successor as Labour Party leader and Tánaiste. A draft outline was published last autumn and debated earlier this year by the Oireachtas education committee.

Mr Quinn told delegates the relevant section of the 1998 Act was narrowly focused on creating procedures to process parents’ or students’ grievances or appeals once they arise.

But, he said, it did not address how parents or students are treated, or how issues can be managed differently before giving rise to any grievance. “I hope the revised section that I am planning will trigger significant change. My aim is to foster a culture change in how schools engage with students and parents each day,” he said.

While greater parental and student involvement may be welcomed by families, the move may be treated with caution by managers over concerns of interference with their autonomy in the day-to-day running of schools.