Mr. Michael Moriarty:

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting us here today. I will paraphrase our submission so as not to repeat much of what has been said. Education and Training Boards Ireland, ETBI, certainly welcomes the charter itself. Sections of the Education Act provide rights to parents and children but it is good to have this clarity so they can be brought together in a precise way. We certainly welcome that for parents and schools as well. We have some concerns, as I will come to in a moment.

ETBI has a long tradition of partnership with parents and we have parents on our boards of management and education and training boards. As statutory bodies we are very compliance-aware anyway. It is important to have legal underpinning of the existing good practice spread throughout the education legislation in order to have it copperfastened and crystalised. That is what this charter does. In that light, we welcome this process. In 2009 at our own annual conference, we proposed a charter of rights just like this for schools, parents and children; it would have dealt with rights for the entire school community. It is not new to us and it is something we have looked forward to and mentioned before as a priority of the education and training boards. During the discussions we will seek to examine how the charter will interact with other legislation, such as the Teaching Council Act, the Education Act and the Children First Act etc. Like my colleagues who spoke before me, we welcome the proposal to have detailed guidelines for schools and it is important to have a standard approach across schools rather than variations. It is extremely important that the guidelines are strong and detailed enough to provide for that so parents expect the same from all schools, irrespective of where they are.

The effective implementation of this new legislation is dependent on two elements, which are strong leadership at a school level and appropriate resources for schools. We need greater clarity on that and we will certainly be seeking it as the Bill progresses. We want our schools to be charter-ready but have the appropriate capacity to do that. Rather than reacting or firefighting, it is very important that we can work proactively with it and our schools can do that. Effective change must be planned but it must also be resourced. The legislators and school management will fail if there are not sufficient resources at school level. As my colleagues have said before, we cannot continue to overburden school management that is already creaking in trying to address oversight, statutory and other provisions with which schools are now required to comply.

Those are our concerns about the capacity of schools. One of the high-level principles set out in this Bill refers to securing optimal outcomes for each student with regard to student learning and holistic development. That seems to be very absolute and unequivocal. Schools could be challenged very quickly by any parent who feels a child has not been given a level of education, training, or holistic development that is copperfastened as a statutory right for parents in this legislation. There is a very high bar for the principles, another one being the aforementioned quality assurance matter. They will be difficult for schools, and although there are rights for parents and teachers, schools also have rights to a reasonable expectation of meeting the provisions of this. The words "strive" or "endeavour" would be important but they are not mentioned. We need to set out procedures to avoid unreasonable challenges to schools by parents or vexatious complaints. The Education (Amendment) Bill has this when it comes to the Ombudsman for Children.

Since the Education Act 1998, there has been a very significant change in the education sector. A student-centred approach is now the norm and schools are committed to inclusive education. A curriculum is designed to meet the needs of students and the student voice is not in any way a tokenistic notion. Students are consulted on many issues of policy. The Department inspectorate see to that and school self-evaluation looks to this, as does junior cycle reform. It is important that there be a standard student-parent charter for all schools. It is welcome and has the potential to inform the work of schools in terms of the needs of students, parents and families. ETBI welcomes the clarity of the charter, notwithstanding the very serious concerns I have expressed about resourcing schools to meet high-level expectation and the high-bar principles that are here.

I will move to the Education (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to establish an ombudsman for education, which would have powers to investigate decisions of teachers or grievances against schools and principals. ETBI is open to this proposal and we have no objection to the establishment of such a statutory position. Having said that, we have not completed our internal process as it was overtaken by today's hearing. So far, the education and training boards have expressed a positive disposition towards the Bill. The majority of boards function very well and discharge their duties appropriately

However, we have to be mindful of the very small minority of boards with which parents encounter difficulty in finding redress to problems relating to the educational welfare of their child. The office of the ombudsman for education could provide an accessible point for parents for such resolutions. There would be a dedicated agency to which parents could turn. Children’s issues are spread across a number of Departments throughout the Education Act. They are hard to find. An ombudsman for education would provide ready access for parents.

One of the noteworthy proposed functions of the ombudsman for education would be particularly welcomed. It is proposed that the ombudsman would monitor and review generally the operation of legislation concerning matters relating to the education of children. The proposed function whereby the ombudsman for education could establish structures to consult regularly with boards and recognised school management agencies would also be a welcome development.

I note in section 66(7)(i) that this ombudsman has the right to refuse an appeal if it was considered vexatious. That is very important for the protection of schools. We like the focus on education, and the proposal for an ombudsman for education as a protector and promoter of the rights and welfare of children. However, we must be conscious of the rights and welfare of staff, students and boards also. There needs to be a balance in both items of proposed legislation, but the ombudsman for children brings considerable focus on the education sector itself.