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School Discipline.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 June 2004

Wednesday, 30 June 2004

Questions (63)

Joe Sherlock

Question:

123 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps he intends to take to assist teachers to deal with the growing problem of indiscipline in schools, especially at second level, particularly in view of a recent ASTI survey showing that 54% of respondents had experienced verbal abuse from students and a third of teachers had experience of parents refusing to co-operate in the implementation of sanctions on students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19501/04]

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Written answers

I am aware of the survey, conducted by the ASTI, referred to by the Deputy. It is important that, while acknowledging that student discipline is an issue in schools, we do not talk this up to being a crisis. It is undoubtedly the case that a small proportion of students cause serious problems in schools. The reasons for this are not simple and are societal as much as educational. That said, today's generation of young people is no more disruptive than its predecessors. The reality of the situation is that as we have progressively increased the retention rate in our formal education system, we are retaining students who in the past would have dropped out of school early. This poses challenges for schools and for society.

A school's code of discipline and the inclusive way in which it is framed is important, particularly in harnessing student and parental support. We also must look at whether the formal school model best meets the needs of all students and whether other models need to be developed. As against this, we must careful not to promote the exclusion of problem students as this will leave us with a greater problem down the road.

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