Minister for Education Mary Hanafin insisted yesterday that there is not a crisis of discipline in our schools. She was speaking at the launch of the final report by the Department of Education Task Force on Student Behaviour.
The report stops short of proposing the kind of robust legislative change and other measures demanded by some in the teaching unions.
There are no long-term "sinbins" for persistently disruptive pupils. The controversial Section 29 of the Education Act, which can make it difficult to expel very troublesome pupils, is to be reviewed - but only to smooth its operation. Ms Hanafin says the review is not designed to make it easier to expel pupils, as every child has a right to a full education.
So, has the report understated the extent of the problems in our schools? The report team clearly agrees with the Minister that the problem, while serious, is not at a crisis level. But even a cursory reading of a survey prepared by the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) and published this week might suggest otherwise. The TUI analysis, which was groundbreaking in its scale, reported on the views of some 1,100 teachers in almost 60 schools. It revealed a frightening level of bullying and intimidation. It also exposed the huge amount of valuable class time lost by constant disruption. In addition, it highlighted how both teacher and student morale is being sapped by the actions of a relatively small minority of troublesome pupils. The TUI makes a case for urgent action to address the problem. But the department task force report is very measured in its proposals.
That said, the task force team - chaired by Dr Maeve Martin of NUI Maynooth - has made some sensible and innovative proposals. The new behaviour support teams, where teachers work alongside psychologists, should provide "in-house" assistance for schools in dealing with very disruptive pupils. The proposed behaviour support classrooms - where students are taken out of their class for a short-term cooling off period - also offer respite to teachers and an opportunity for schools to manage their most difficult students. On balance, it is probably a better alternative than a so-called sinbin, where students are marginalised on a permanent basis from the rest of the school community. There is much else that is good in the report: the wider availability of the Junior Cert, the expansion of the Youth Encounter and Youthreach services and the focus on leadership development in schools can all have an impact on the problem.
But there is also a sense that this is but a first step. The behaviour support teams, for example, will work in about 50 of the 700-plus schools in the State. And the pilot programme of behaviour support classrooms will begin in about 30 schools. The hope would be that the new programme will help to alleviate the problem. The reality, however, is that it will probably get worse before it gets better. It may be that the department will have to revisit the discipline issue before long.