IPPN

EDUCATION Minister Mary Hanafin has rejected criticism that her department has failed to provide adequate levels of support to teachers who have to deal with disruptive students.

Ms Hanafin yesterday promised that she would give strong backing to any legislative changes which might be recommended in a forthcoming report by a special task force set up to examine the problem.

The minister said she was also open to the possibility of establishing special facilities known as student referral units whereby disruptive pupils would be removed from their normal classes.

However, Ms Hanafin said the experience of such units had so far failed to provide positive proof that they helped to address the problem.

Her comments followed complaints by the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) that the Government had ignored the recommendations of several earlier reports which also examined the problem of disruptive pupils.

An interim report by the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools published earlier this month highlighted how 5%-10% of second-level students are believed to be engaged in disruptive behaviour, although only "a very small proportion" were involved in extreme misconduct.

ASTI president Susie Hall yesterday issued an appeal to Ms Hanafin that it would not "go the way of previous reports" and not be put into practice.

Ms Hanafin said the solution rested with the involvement of the whole school community, including the parents of pupils in tacking disruptive behaviour.

She promised the task force's report was "certainly not going to sit on a shelf".

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