New guidelines for schools on how to respond to the sudden unexpected death of a student will be launched by Minister of State, Frank Fahey, at ASTI House in Dublin today. The guidelines, based on responses to a survey by the union last November, reflect the experience of principals and school staffs who have already had to deal with the trauma of the sudden death of a student. The survey, conducted by Moira Leydon, assistant general secretary of the ASTI, shows that 13 per cent of principals who responded had to deal with a student suicide in their school.

The survey had "a very good response rate" of 48 per cent - or 278 respondents. The information assembled included how schools informed students of their peer's death, what immediate steps were taken by principals in response to the tragedy, the measures they took to cope with the shock experienced by students and teachers and the counselling services that were available to schools in the aftermath.

Many principals reported that a lot of the problems which students exhibited came from outside the school community. They expressed frustration about this aspect of the problem in particular.

Leydon points out that a strong feature of the responses was widespread dissatisfaction with support services available to schools for students in distress. A great number of the questionnaires were accompanied, she says, by letters and other documentation underlining both the deep concern of principals for the deceased students and their families and for other members of the school community and the abiding sense of grief and loss which the death of a young person leaves in its wake.

Many principals felt that their most practical step was an "open door" policy for students. "A major complaint of principals was the inadequacy of the School Psychological Serivce," she says.