Anger at failure to protect teachers
- Published: 18 September 2008
By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent
SCHOOL leaders expressed anger at the lack of changes to procedures to protect teachers and students from misbehaving classmates, 18 months after the necessary law was passed.
Changes to the Education Act introduced by previous Education Minister Mary Hanafin were signed into law in March 2007. The aim was to ensure committees hearing appeals against expulsion of a student should consider the rights of classmates as well as those of the person bringing the case.
This was done to reflect demands from schools and teachers to act on growing misbehaviour problems among a minority of second-level students, because of the detrimental effect it was having on teaching and learning.
However, the amendments to the 1998 Education Act had not yet taken effect. A department spokesperson said last night drafting of the necessary statutory instrument, which requires the input of legal advice, is ongoing.
At the annual congress of the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), representing VECs which manage around 250 second-level schools, delegates called on the Department of Education to implement the changes and even to go further.
Many delegates had concerns about students expelled from one school seeking entry to another, and appealing successfully if the second school refuses to enrol them.
Gearóid Ó Brádaigh, chief executive of Co Westmeath VEC, said committees appointed by the department to hear appeals are set up by an official agenda to find a school place for an appellant, no matter how unworthy they might be.
"The paltry amendments to this fundamentally flawed system have yet to be implemented. This system doesn't require tinkering at the edges, it needs a root and branch removal and replacement," he said.
A High Court ruling is expected soon on a judicial review brought by Co Westmeath VEC against an appeal finding against one of its schools. The school had refused to enrol a student because he was still formally enrolled in another school, which he had left after problems with his behaviour.
The IVEA congress also heard criticisms about the role of National Educational Welfare Board staff who often support students and their families taking appeals.
Tipperary South Riding VEC member Kevin O'Reilly the appeals procedure has been a bruising experience for principals and undermined their confidence.
"They are forced to take in pupils who win their appeals, who have been given a huge sense of empowerment that they can do what the like from the highest authorities," he said.
Delegates also called for an annual report on the outcome of all such appeals, summarising the facts and findings in each case. The IVEA is also seeking more balanced representation of people from all school sectors on appeal committees.
