Vol. 471 No. 6
5 Mr. Martin asked the Minister for Education if she will undertake a fresh national initiative in relation to discipline in our schools and to provide the necessary resources to schools to enable them to adequately deal with the issue. [21427/96]
I am reviewing the existing guidelines on discipline in schools. As a first step in the review my Department has commissioned a research project on discipline in primary and second-level schools. This study will identify the extent of discipline problems in the education system and models of good practice in the maintenance of discipline in schools. It is expected that the report will be completed at the end of the current year.
The research project will be a focal point for the review which will be carried out during the current school year in consultation with the partners in education.
When I tabled a similar question a year ago the Minister said a research project would be undertaken by her Department. Today she said that yet another research project will be undertaken. The Minister has been negligent in developing strategies to combat indiscipline in schools. The findings of the recent TUI survey and its statement raised widespread concern throughout the educational world about the lack of resources allocated to teachers and schools to combat this problem. The Minister does not seem to have any answers for the schools concerned and it is ridiculous for her to say, one year later, that her Department has commissioned a research project on this issue.
Research projects are not conducted overnight. The Department's research and development committee commissioned Dr. Maeve Martin of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, to conduct research on discipline in primary and second-level schools. The report is well advanced and will be completed by the end of the year. The interim report submitted by Dr. Martin earlier in the year indicated that comprehensive literature research had been carried out on best practice, a questionnaire on discipline had been distributed to a representative sample of schools, meetings had been held with teachers, further interviews with stakeholders were planned and further meetings would be held with parents, teachers, management, deans of discipline, year heads and the inspectorate. The aim of the research is to identify models of good practice and ensure the maintenance of discipline in schools.
After the project is completed, there will be a review of the 1991 guidelines, and the TUI policy document on discipline will be helpful in this regard. The partners in education who carry responsibility for the maintenance of discipline in the classroom are teachers. I acknowledge the work already carried out by the TUI, and we will continue to talk to the partners in education. The TUI policy document contains 46 recommendations and I will consider any recommendations made following the review.
Is the Minister saying that five years after the guidelines were published the Department is engaged in research on how to deal with this enormous problem in schools? Has a specific timescale been set for completion of the research project? Will the Minister agree it is normal to set such parameters when embarking on a research project? It is five years since the guidelines were put in place. As in the case of bullying, the Minister has resorted to commissioning research after the event rather than dealing with the problem. When will the project be completed and when will a workable system to deal with the problem be put in place in schools?
The guidelines were put in place for primary schools in 1990 and in 1991 for post-primary schools. The information available does not suggest there has been a decrease in discipline problems over the past five or six years. The guidelines make a positive contribution to the environment in schools and it is important to remember that they are not reviewed by the Minister but by those who have access to international best practice. The research project was announced one year ago and I received an interim report earlier in the year. The Department is very concerned to ensure that schools are consulted. Consultation with the partners in education has been completed and the research project will be completed by the end of the year. The TUI has carried out very useful work in this area. Guidelines need to be reviewed, and I asked for the guidelines on bullying to be reviewed after three years. This work requires in-depth attention by the Department and cannot be carried out overnight.
How many children are expelled from secondary schools each year because of discipline problems and what is the Department's policy on their subsequent education? For example, what happens if they are refused entry to other local schools because of their record?
I do not have specific details on these matters but there are rules governing explusion at primary and second-level. Primary school rule 130(6) provides that no pupil shall be struck off the roll for breaches of discipline without the prior consent of the patron and unless alternative arrangements are made for the enrolment of the pupil at another suitable school. In the case of secondary schools, the positive policy guideline on school behaviour and discipline provides that expulsion should be resorted to only in the most extreme cases of discipline and only after every effort at rehabilitation has failed and every other sanction has been exhausted. If the Deputy wishes, I can give him details of the exemptions. Schools should be aware of the legal consequences which might arise if a pupil under 15 years is expelled and alternative placement in another school is not secured for him. For schools involved in the sad decision to expel children, there is a responsibility to find alternative accommodation for those under 15. Children over 15 are outside the compulsory school age although an increasing number of students stay on at school well after the compulsory period.
What section in the Department of Education has responsibility for dealing with disruption caused by disciplinary problems in schools? What level of specialist training do such people have in child psychology?
Management of schools is a matter for the boards of management. The Department inspectorate liaises with schools and is concerned with problems of indiscipline and expulsion. The Department has funded an in-career development unit which has made courses on classroom management and discipline available to teachers. These courses were mainly designed by the teachers' unions, in particular the INTO and ASTI. Teachers have been able to avail of such courses which are funded by the Department.
In future we will see more investment for training teachers in classroom management and discipline. The strategies and type of sanctions available to schools are outlined and in times of trouble communication is available between schools and the departmental inspectorate.
The Minister's reply illustrates that the Department has not grasped the problem nationally and does not have a hands-on approach to the issue. I tabled my question because a fresh initiative is needed on the key problem of school discipline, not just in terms of guidelines for techniques and methodology but to assist and resource schools. In addition, adequate provision is required for a child who is suspended or expelled from class because the school judges that he or she is unduly harming the quality of education for the rest of the pupils. No real alternative provisions are available to schools for such children who need help through a multidisciplinary approach.
The Minister has been negligent in assisting schools to help such children and assistance could be given through a more favourable pupil-teacher ratio or the development of a special class to deal with unruly children. A fresh initiative is needed to help children who are suspended or expelled for a variety of reasons. It is not good enough to say that we must await the results of research, guidelines and all that nonsense because it is not focusing on the problem.
I would not dismiss this as nonsense. These are the rules, regulations and guidelines under which school policy on discipline is developed by the management which has responsibility for the day to day running of the school environment. The Deputy has often suggested that depending on research is a way of slighting the work in the Department of Education.
No.
I respect research and would be the first to say that all knowledge does not lie here. However, I have access to knowledge with research and the partnership that has been developed, not only with teachers but with parents, in the review of the guidelines we discussed earlier. Where all guidelines fail we will carry out research and review what happens.
It is not the guidelines. It has nothing to do with the children.
Where there is a shortfall there will be a need for a review. The Deputy mentioned the need to change things for children, and support services in schools have increased. I will continue to seek more services. With 84 per cent of children now staying on to sit the leaving certificate we must have a relevant curriculum. We must have options so that children are not utterly frustrated in the classroom and, in turn, display signs of behaviour which disrupts not only the child's education but that of the whole class.
In handling the need for change and a different wider profile of children within the school, it is timely to have conducted a year of research. I look forward to bringing to the House the new guidelines that will emanate not only from the research being carried out but also from the work done by the teachers' unions.
We need more than guidelines.
I thought it was remarkably interesting that in answer to the question put by Deputy Wallace in relation to discipline, the Minister did not refer to the school psychological service. In the context of schools being responsible for children's behaviour in class, does the Minister agree that support is required by the partnership involving the school, parents, children and the community? We do not have a school psychological service, although we have a couple of pilot schemes. Will the Minister agree that support is desperately needed, particularly in the case of a disruptive pupil who may behave in such a way because of psychological difficulties that need to be addressed? An assessment and treatment service is needed for that type of pupil. Will the Minister agree that unless there is a fully implemented psychological service all the research in the world will not cater for such children who will be thrown on the scrap-heap?
It is not fair to dismiss the service as a series of pilot schemes. When I next take oral questions in the House, it may be useful to table a specific question about the psychological service available.
There is a question down today.
There is a need to increase the service, but to dismiss it as non-existent is not particularly helpful.
It is a pilot scheme.
During my term of office we have increased the number of guidance counsellors available in secondary schools. I know the Deputy has a particular knowledge of the career guidance service and I was concerned that the service available was very thin on the ground. Therefore, I was able to set up the career guidance counselling service and introduce 100 new guidance counsellors so that such counselling would be available to students within the school system. That should not be written out of the equation. There are now much more support services in schools than before, including remedial services at second level and a dramatic increase in the career guidance service as well as an improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio. Huge improvements have also been made in the curriculum that students are expected to study.
I am prepared to commission research so it should not be dismissed lightly, as the Deputies have done. I will use the outcome of that research to inform my Department as I seek to put more support services into schools. For a long time such support services were few and far between.
The Minister mentioned support for teachers who have to deal with disciplinary problems in the classroom. What support does the Department provide for teachers who have suffered serious stress because of such problems? Are courses provided in this area or are teachers given time off to recover from excessive teacher-related stress? If so, how many teachers benefit in this way each year?
Teachers who are medically unfit to teach in a classroom can take sick leave. It would be difficult to deal with individual cases.
I am not talking about individual cases, I am looking for numbers.
The Deputy suggested there are teachers who are so stressed they can no longer function in the classroom. I hope, within the adult medical care provisions, such teachers can recover and return to the classroom. This is where the guidelines will help and where the voice of the teachers and the board of management must be heard. The Department of Education was able to respond positively to courses proposed by the teacher unions, the organisations in place to protect teachers. They claim such courses will provide teachers with the necessary skills to deal with difficult pupils and other stress-related problems in schools. The Deputy painted a rather sad picture.
We recently announced the upgrading of education centres. Teachers must not feel they are being left to cope on their own. Teaching is a lonely profession. For that reason the in-career development unit concentrates a great deal of money on upgrading teacher skills. We have also provided a welfare service for teachers. When teacher centres are upgraded and the guidelines on discipline are strengthened, teachers should not feel alone. Deputy Wallace is obviously familiar with sad cases. Those are the broad areas we are developing to respond to specific cases.
The Minister did not answer my question. I did not ask for specifics. How can one have a policy if one does not know the numbers involved? I asked the Minister for the number of teachers affected each year, but she did not give them. To suggest there are no disciplinary problems in classrooms and that teachers are not affected by it is misleading.
Has the Deputy a question?
We ask for information, but we do not get it.
