A new Education Bill, shorn of controversial elements in the last government's draft education legislation, will ensure that for the first time in the State's history schools will be run on a proper legal basis.
The Bill was introduced by the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, yesterday. Significant parts of it were inherited from the legislation published 11 months ago by the last minister, Ms Niamh Bhreathnach, and Mr Martin's changes have been widely signalled and leaked in recent months and weeks.
The last government's proposed regional education boards have been scrapped. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has been made more autonomous and influential by being made statutory. The grounds and procedures for students to appeal have been narrowed and centralised. Exam cheats and those who leak exam papers will face fines and/or prison sentences.
Mr Martin said yesterday he wanted to "avoid an over-bureaucratic approach to education delivery". Regional education boards "would have involved greatly increasing levels of bureaucracy imposed on schools and were estimated to cost up to £40 million a year. This level of expenditure could in no way be justified. It is my intention to concentrate available resources where they are most needed, in the classroom."
He said there would be no compulsion on schools to establish boards of management, and the last government's threat to freeze public funds to those who did not set them up had been dropped. The placing of the NCCA on a statutory basis would put it "at centre stage in curriculum development" and mean that it could not be abolished by any future minister.
One new element, included in response to lobbying from Irish language education organisations, is the establishment of a body with delegated powers to advise on policy in Irish-medium schools. The appeal system laid down by the Bill allows for appeals to be made initially at school board level. However, appeals against expulsions, long-term or "rolling" suspensions and refusals of enrolment on any ground except lack of accommodation can go to the Secretary of the Department. An appeals committee will then be set up consisting of a lawyer, an inspector and another person appointed by the Minister. There will be fines and/or jail sentences for a range of exam-related offences including knowingly possessing an exam paper before an exam, leaking papers, tampering with results and personation.
The Bill contains sizeable sections outlining and defining the roles of patrons, teachers and principals. Mr Martin said he was particularly concerned to reduce the administrative overload on principals, which was why he had removed the earlier Bill's requirement on them to produce an annual school plan.