The Department of Education investigated 110 serious complaints from parents of primary school children in the last school year, including allegations of bullying, poor teaching and children being struck by teachers.
Some 64 of the complaints were either upheld or were still being investigated during this school year, according to documents obtained by The Irish Times. Besides bullying, the other main area of complaint was for breaches of primary school rules by teachers - including children being ridiculed, subject to sarcasm or being struck.
The use of corporal punishment is now a criminal offence, but a spokeswoman for the Department said that only a "relatively small number" of the complaints related to the striking of pupils.
The Department only investigates serious complaints after a school board of management has failed to resolve the matter.
The National Parents' Council (Primary) said yesterday that the level of complaints lodged with the Department was "worrying" and indicated that procedures at board of management level were failing to tackle the problem.
Its president, Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather, said that the overall figure for complaints should be even larger, because most complaints would not reach the Department of Education, which was the last resort for parents.
The figures indicate that bullying in primary schools continues to be a major problem, resulting in 31 complaints last year. Of these, the Department did not pursue 21 cases; it undertook an investigation and recommended action to deal with the problem in seven cases; and it was still considering three other cases.
The Department said that it sometimes did not pursue an investigation into bullying because the pupil affected had transferred to another school and an investigation was no longer possible. It added that an investigation could only take place if the parent first addressed the matter to the board of management of the school.
Ms Kilfeather said that the vast majority of complaints to a helpline for parents set up by her organisation related to bullying. "Many parents find the response of school managements to the issue inadequate", she said.
Breaches of the rules for primary schools amounted to 71 complaints. This classification covers a range of areas from corporal punishment to complaints by parents that children were being given too much homework. Twenty-five of these complaints were not pursued; 35 were the subject of investigation and recommendation; and 11 cases were currently "ongoing".
In relation to breaches of rules, the Department said that an inspector would investigate the complaint and then make a recommendation to the school's board of management. It was then up to the board to act upon this. In relation to corporal punishment, it was a matter for the board to decide if a teacher should be dismissed if such an allegation was upheld.
Eight of the 110 complaints lodged related to the professional competence of teachers. Of these, five were investigated and unspecified recommendations were made by Department inspectors, while three investigations were ongoing. The documents outline the procedure followed in relation to questions of professional competence: "It is entirely a matter for the Department's inspectorate to determine whether or not the teacher's work is to be inspected on foot of the complaint."
A new complaints procedure, details of which were outlined in The Irish Times last month, is expected to be introduced to primary schools shortly. It is designed to resolve contentious issues at local level, rather than having to involve the Department. Some details of the new procedure remain to be finalised.
The figures for last year's complaints were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.