Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 March 2004
135 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on reports by the INTO that its members were reporting significantly more problems regarding discipline in the classroom in recent months, including violence against teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9687/04]
View answerI am concerned by reports of problems in relation to discipline in the classroom and in particular reports involving violence against teachers. Teachers, like other employees, are entitled to feel safe and be protected from all forms of bullying and intimidation in their working environment.
In 1997 my Department issued a circular, entitled Assaults on teachers/school employees, to boards of management and principals of all primary schools. This circular was drawn up in consultation with the partners in education, including the INTO, and drew the attention of boards of management to a number of issues such as: the board's duty to provide a safe place of work for employees; measures to be taken to prevent or minimise the risk of assaults to teachers or other staff employed in schools; and measures to be taken in support of staff who have been assaulted or threatened with assault and in ensuring that appropriate action is taken to safeguard against a recurrence.
Under health and safety legislation, school managerial authorities in their role as employers are responsible for ensuring the safety and health of their employees. This duty requires the drawing up a safety statement for the school in consultation with those at risk. The statement should identify potential hazards and assess the risks to health and safety. Harassment and other similar behaviours should be considered as potential hazards and assessed accordingly. Where there is a risk to health from these forms of behaviour, school based measures should be devised to prevent and deal with them and create an awareness within the school that they are unacceptable.
In addition, my Department issued guidelines to boards of management to assist them in discharging their obligations in the area of school discipline. These guidelines were drawn up following consultation with representatives of management, teachers and parents, and are sufficiently flexible to allow each school authority to adapt them to suit the particular needs of the school.
Each board of management is responsible for formulating, in consultation with parents, a fair and efficient code of behaviour. This code should ensure that the individuality of each child is accommodated while acknowledging the right of each child to education in a relatively disruption-free environment. The code should also include provision for dealing with serious breaches of discipline and continuously disruptive pupils. Social attitudes and parental approaches to discipline vary from one school community to another, and it would be inappropriate for me as Minister to set out a formal and detailed code of behaviour for all schools.
