Mr. Paul Rowe:

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to address the committee on these two Bills. I will try to constrain my remarks to points not already made.

Educate Together welcomes publication of the Education (Parent and Student Charter) Bill. Educate Together has been operating according to its own charter since 1992 and we believe this is a very good way of establishing fundamental principles on which school operations can be managed.

It is very heartening to see that the parent and student charter will involve parents and students more decisively in the work of schools. We believe that the use of a well drafted charter can result in a service to support democracy in action in schools, more confident young people capable of and committed to creating positive change in their school and, by extension, in society. In our experience, this type of approach is critical to maximising participation of children in schools and families, especially in areas in which there is not a culture of such participation. This objective has been at the heart of Educate Together's ethos since its inception in the 1970s, which recognises the centrality of learners in school not just as subjects of transmission of information but as active agents in their own education.

We are particularly interested in the potential of the charter to reinforce the good practice of listening to [and hearing] the voices of children and young people in schools, which aligns with our ethos.

We would encourage the community to reinforce, through this charter, the important role of parents, students and families engaged in the educational process. There is a huge opportunity for this particular piece of legislation to do so. At second level, Educate Together students are welcomed on boards of management of the new Educate Together second-level schools, to participate in shaping the policy of their schools where appropriate. We would like, in this legislation, a formal commitment to appropriate student participation on boards of management included in this Bill.

The Bill places additional requirements on boards of management, and this is a matter of very serious concern. As other speakers have said, boards of management are a huge example of social capital in our society. They are overburdened currently, and it is really important that the Oireachtas supports this level of voluntary participation. We analysed, some years ago, the total contribution of the voluntary membership of boards of management of schools and we analysed that the State contributes €1.47 per pupil per year to management of the primary education system. That is an extraordinary deliverable where social impact is concerned. The requirement to provide mediation, for example, is something which we thoroughly support, but that has to be associated with resources in order to be implemented.

Boards are made up of individuals who undertake their role on an entirely voluntary basis. Some of the issues they face in areas of complaints, grievance and complicated human resources issues are complex and deeply emotional for all involved. We would like to see the relationship between boards of management, parents and students being based on restorative practice, with proper resourcing and supports in place to support boards of management in their work, which we have to acknowledge can take a serious personal toll on board members. The language of the Bill is somewhat vague, as other representatives have highlighted, particularly in some paragraphs. In paragraph 2, sub-sections (vii) to (xi), for instance, there is mention of "operating quality assurance", without any specifics as to what is being quality assured or what is meant by quality. We welcome the expansion of the role of the Ombudsman for Children.

We welcome the intent of the Education (Amendment) Bill 2015, to provide an appeal mechanism for decisions of boards of management, but we are not in favour of the proposal to appoint an ombudsman for education. We feel that the aim of the Bill would be better served by putting in place a robust complaints procedure, with an appeal process that would be agreed by all stakeholders, including parent bodies, management bodies, trade unions of all staff in schools, student councils and the Department. This would be based on a partnership model, and would include a properly resourced appeal process. We would like to point out that the current complaints process was negotiated some time ago. That negotiation, though no fault of any party, did not include all parties currently in management in education.

In closing, I would like to reiterate and emphasise the voluntary nature of boards of management. I would like to draw a distinction between boards of management of national schools, of voluntary secondary schools and community schools - which are corporate entities in their own right, with full authority and responsibility for the legal running of schools and for the employment of staff - and boards of management in community colleges, which are subcommittees of an education and training board, ETB, and do not have the same legally heavy set of responsibilities. Our boards are made up of volunteers, who give up a considerable amount of their time to run schools at primary and post-primary level, at no cost to the Exchequer, other than the provision of training deemed essential for them to carry out their governance role. We feel that any Bill should recognise the voluntary nature of the role and the benefit of it, and should emphasise support provision for members of boards to carry out their work using good practice. We would conclude by asking the Oireachtas to take steps to positively affirm and support that huge voluntary resource in our society.