TEACHERS' UNION OF IRELAND:DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOUR in classrooms has worsened as a result of the recession and education cutbacks, the Teachers' Union of Ireland has warned.
The impact of pay cuts and job losses on some families has led to increasingly difficult behaviour among students, says the union.
Schools are losing structures they have put in place to tackle indiscipline because of the embargo on filling posts of responsibility.
In a behaviour and attitudes survey carried out on behalf of the TUI last week, 81 per cent of teachers said dealing with discipline had increased their workload over the last five years.
“Classroom disruption remains a matter of immediate concern to parents because it deprives their children of a proper learning environment,” TUI general secretary Peter MacMenamin said at the union’s annual congress in Ennis, Co Clare, which concluded yesterday.
“Most social problems manifest themselves initially in the classroom. Teachers have said that the predicament the country finds itself in is impacting on student behaviour.”
The Behavioural Support Service was established three years ago to target discipline in schools. Thirty three schools have been identified for extra staffing and support to deal with disruptive students.
“What we have seen is small scale and underfunded. Education cutbacks are completely eroding the good work that has been done,” said Mr MacMenamin.
The moratorium on the filling of management posts in schools is having a “disastrous” effect on school discipline as many pastoral positions are no longer being filled as vacancies arise, according to Declan Glynn, TUI assistant general secretary.
“Bad behaviour is often a cry for help. If it goes unheeded it can lead to serious consequences,” he said.
“These children often come from dysfunctional families and you feel like putting your arms around them and telling them the world will get better.
“Year heads spend hours talking to these children, keeping them in the system when they might otherwise drop off the edge.
“The embargo on filling posts, coupled with the increase in the pupil teacher ratio, means that the time is not there to spend.” The outcome for teachers in the classroom is equally worrying, said Mr Glynn.
“Teachers need assistant principals or year heads to intercede on their behalf. Otherwise a disproportionate amount of time is spent following up on disruptive behaviour. If you don’t follow up, your personal authority is undermined,” said Mr Glynn.
Section 29 of the Education Act allows parents to challenge suspensions and expulsions by school management. The effect of the appeals process on school authority was the subject of considerable debate at the TUI conference in 2008.
At that time unions succeeded in securing a commitment from the department that section 29 appeal judgments would be re-weighted to take the rights of the school community into consideration before reinstating a pupil.
An amendment to section 29 was agreed in the Dáil but has not yet been enacted. “This has never commenced, despite going through the Dáil . It is meaningless for our schools at the moment,” said Mr Glynn.
Section 29 appeals have decreased since 2008. Unions say the fall is explained by a growing reluctance to take meaningful action against disruptive pupils.
“A slight administrative or procedural error goes in favour of the student,” said Mr Glynn.
“When that student is reinstated it sends out the message to the school community that there is no sanction for carrying a knife, assaulting a teacher or engaging in serious bullying. Pupils don’t understand about section 29.”
Several teachers have reported enduring spitting and obscene gestures as principals are short of year heads and do not have the time or resources to suspend students as they are fearful of time consuming section 29 appeals being taken against them.
One TUI member described an incident in which a student who had prodded another student with a penknife was not suspended because her parents threatened a section 29 appeal.
