Mr. Tom Deegan:

It is the intention of the Minister to publish guidelines for a school charter for parents and students before the end of this school year. Each school will be required to have a charter. Section 28 of the Education Act has been mentioned and changes will be required to that section in order to enable the framework for a parent and student charter to be put on a statutory footing. The value of a parent and student charter is that every school will be required legally to have one. The drawing up of the charter will need the active involvement of the parent representatives, parent associations and parent councils. This representation has been lacking in past grievance procedures. Previous procedures were devised some time ago by the CPSMA and the INTO and noticeably lacked parental involvement. The major difference in the parent charter project is that it must have parental involvement. The change in section 28 must be worked out in order for the charter to be put on a statutory footing. The elements of the charter will be worked out and developed in consultation with all the education partners - the management bodies, teacher unions and national parent councils. The intention is to publish and finalise this before the end of the school year.