Teachers are ignoring guidelines and failing to pass suspicions of child abuse and neglect to health boards, a study of schools in the north-west suggests. The study, by social worker Mr John Kelly, concludes starkly that "expecting schools to identify children who are not receiving adequate care and protection is not going to happen". His study is published in the Irish Journal of Social Work Research.
Mr Kelly found that teachers were reluctant to involve the health boards if they were uncertain as to whether abuse was occurring. However, if mandatory reporting was introduced, half the teachers in the study say they would report cases automatically, he writes.
Under Department of Education guidelines, teachers should pass concerns to the school principal, who should inform the chairperson of the board of management. Investigations should not be carried out by teachers, but should be left to the health board.
However, while some teachers reported their concerns to their school principals, others breached the guidelines by contacting parents. Some parents ignored teachers' requests for meetings and others assured teachers that incidents would not occur again or that professional help would be sought.
Some teachers, instead of involving the principal or the parents, try to give practical help to the child. "For example, a junior teacher described providing extra food, drinks and warm clothing for a neglected child", Mr Kelly writes. "This child would arrive at school inadequately clothed and without a lunch. The teacher recounted putting a coat on the child at playtime and sharing food with her at lunch break."
Some teachers see reporting concerns as "amounting to accusing parents of abuse".
Mr Kelly suggests that teachers should receive more training on how to deal with concerns. Teachers themselves, in this and other studies, have suggested that homeschool liaison teachers, school-based social workers and the designation of teachers to deal with abuse would improve the situation.