Seamus Healy
Ceist:768 Mr. Healy asked the Minister for Education and Science the proposals he has to provide a mechanism whereby complaints by parents and students against the boards of management of secondary schools can be addressed. [26221/01]
Written Answers. - Schools Complaints Procedures.
Secondary schools are privately owned and managed institutions and are the responsibility of the managerial authorities of the individual schools. Complaints should be addressed, in the first instance, to the secretary of the board of management of the school in question. In exceptional cases, where issues remain unresolved and all local avenues of appeal have been exhausted, my Department may, on receipt of written authorisation of a pupil's parents, refer a complaint received to the schools management authority concerned for its observations. Following consideration of the school's response, the case may be referred to my Department inspectorate for the purpose of making local inquiries.
The outcome of my Department's investigations, when complete, is communicated to the parents. Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998, gives parents and students who have reached the age of 18 the right to appeal certain decisions made by a school board of management, or a person acting on behalf of a board, to the Secretary General of my Department. My Department has issued a circular to the managerial authorities of second level schools and other interested parties, setting out the appeals procedures under section 29 of the Act.