09 May 2005
NEWB Draws Attention to Lack of Provision for Expelled Students in Education System

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) today warned that the Irish education system did not make adequate provisions for children who were expelled from school for issues of behaviour.

In its submission to the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level, the Board also said that it did not favour any weakening of the legal access to appeals under Section 29 of the Education Act (1998). It stated that the appeals system, which allows parents and children to appeal a decision to expel a child from school, had been positive for both schools and students. It had led to the strengthening of school policies and enabled schools to ensure fair and transparent procedures. For parents and students, given the seriousness of expulsion, the right to appeal was essential within the education system.

However, the Board pointed out that the issue of expulsion raised a fundamental anomaly within Irish education; how does the system make provision to meet the educational entitlements of the child who is expelled and how are the parents to discharge their legal obligations to ensure their child attends school?

"As long as the right to expel a child remains in place, it must be matched by legal and educational provision for an expelled child to have access to education,” the submission outlined. “NEWB regards this as a matter requiring urgent attention in terms of both legal and educational provision.”

The Board advised that traditional school disciplinary responses such as detention, standing outside classrooms, suspensions or expulsions presented a major challenge in terms of schools attendance. Any strategy used by a teacher or a school to address problem behaviour must be guided by a welfare focus, it stated. In other words, the educational welfare of the child who is removed from the learning environment should be of equal concern to a school as the child who is in the classroom.

The Board, which was set up to ensure that children and young people attend school and receive an adequate education, also drew attention to the difficulties which children often had in transferring from primary to secondary school because of the different approaches to curriculum between the two school levels.

It pointed out that new developments in the primary curriculum placed a premium on self-directed learning, self-expression, questioning and movement in the classroom. In some second-level environments, however, these learning behaviours could be regarded as “problem” behaviour. Children making the transition may be confused and upset by this change in culture. The Board advised that coherence between the primary and post-primary curriculum was essential.

Finally, the Board highlighted out the unique role of Educational Welfare Officers in dealing with, and developing options for children with persistent behavioural problems and recommended that the role of EWOs should be strengthened within the education system.

For more information contact:

Edel Hackett
Tel: 087-2935207