Jim Daly TD: Opposition to Ombudsman suggest school bodies fear accountability

The opposition of most schools bodies to a proposed Ombudsman for Education suggests a fear of accountability, a Fine Gael TD has claimed.

Jim Daly’s bill proposes a dedicated ombudsman to hear appeals in relation to the decisions of school boards. It was the subject of a third hearing by the Oireachtas Education Committee yesterday. But of nine school management bodies represented, only Education and Training Boards Ireland supported the idea.

The others asserted, as did teacher unions and other organisations at previous hearings, that the decision-making processes of schools are already open to scrutiny by the Children’s Ombudsman, almost half of whose caseload relates to schools.