Trevor Sargent
Question:174 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education the course of appeal, if any, parents have in citing an abuse of rights in a school, such as an expulsion where a pupil has been wrongly accused. [23170/96]
Written Answers. - Appeals Against Disciplinary Rulings.
My Department, through its guidelines on school discipline, lays considerable stress on the use of suspensions and explusions only as a last resort. Where parents are dissatisfied with disciplinary rulings by schools, it is open to them to appeal the decision to the appropriate management authority. In the case of primary and second level schools, boards of management, where established, are the appropriate authority. In the cases of voluntary secondary schools and schools controlled by vocational education committees, where boards of management are not in place, the manager of the school and the vocational education committee in whose administrative area the school is situated, respectively, are the appropriate authorities.
In situations where difficulties continue to exist after the appeal process has been pursued, my Department gives assistance towards the resolution of the difficulties with a view to ensuring that the pupil concerned is retained in full time education.
The White Paper on Education Charting our Education Future outlines Government policy on the establishment of education boards. These boards will be given a clear role in relation to appeals arising from decisions of schools affecting students, including decisions concerning suspension and expulsion. The Government has approved the drafting of the Education Bill which will give effect to these proposals. I propose to publish this Bill shortly.