Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

On behalf of the Green Party, I support the motion calling on the Government to publish immediately the final report of the task force on student behaviour, to outline its legislative response to tackling school discipline problems, and to examine the difficulties posed by section 29 of the Education Act 1998.

In some schools, parents claim that their children are being bullied, when the reality often is that children have not spent time with their parents who are working all day and they do not know how to play with other kids. That causes its own problems in an increasingly litigious society. There may be differences in nuances, but all of the Opposition parties are in agreement on this issue. Bullying and indiscipline are growing problems. They are part of a wider social malaise, but they cannot be tolerated. While everything must be done to tackle the root cause, the difficulties being experienced by a minority of students must not be allowed to disrupt other students. However, let us not wash our hands of these students. It will cost them and the State dearly in the years to come.

Last night, Deputy Enright spoke of addressing the needs of students who do not fit into the school system. While I agree with the Minister that referring to students "not fitting in to the school system" is the wrong choice of words, let us not be pedantic. We must address the issues facing those students whose educational needs cannot be met by the mainstream system. This should take place in a classroom context in the first instance, with all of the necessary supports being provided. In this context, the first thing to be done is to provide a parallel system to enable certain students to continue their education at the school within a model that suits their educational requirements. This could be suitable in certain cases, particularly with regard to the old personality clash issue, minor incidences and low-level bullying.

However, it may be that the factors that lead to a student being disruptive are such that a separate facility is required within each geographical cluster of schools. We need a facility where a disruptive student can learn in an environment suited to his or her needs, while at the same time allowing students, whose education has been disjointed because of the disruption, to benefit from classes without interruption. I disagree with the Minister when she suggests that a network of facilities is unnecessary and simply amounts to dumping students. I visited Edgeware School in Sydney, and having spoken to current and former students at the school, I am convinced that it is a model that deserves serious attention. As a member of the education committee delegation that visited the facility, I would like to share with the House some of the inspirational stories that we heard.

We visited Edgeware School in the western suburbs of Sydney, where disruptive children are sent as a last resort. In New South Wales, an effort is made to deal with disruptive children within the classroom in the first instance. That is why I agree with Deputy Enright's motion. As a last resort, we need some form of facility outside the school that is appropriate to the student's needs. Edgeware School is an example of this. The students cannot be dealt with in an isolated situation in their own school, because the children have become dysfunctional long before they reach second level. Once a student has educational needs of such a serious nature, it is very hard to deal with his or her repressed anger and the inability to express it in the right context. When teachers are not seen as recognising that pain, they are seen as being dismissive. A student will not be educated in that context.

In Edgeware, I met a 14 year old boy called Sean. He said he was doing nothing in his old school, but there are just two students in his class in Edgeware. He said that children were being bullied in the mainstream, but not in Edgeware. He could come and go as he pleased as he was given that amount of leeway. If he did not feel like doing mathematics at a certain time, he could do it later. That model of education will not turn him into a PhD graduate, but it will keep him within the system. He is happy enough to go to school now. He gets jobs fixing fences and this allows him to obtain practical skills, to build up trust and respect. The principal is friendly but he is not the friend of the students. This respectful manner is appreciated by the students. I also met a former pupil who went into the army. He obtained a vocational qualification and he sings the praises of the school. In some cases, the children do so well there that they can go back to the mainstream school. However, they need to be provided with some form of opportunity. Leaving them in the school when the approach is not working is a fate worse than death in some ways. They will not be of any benefit to themselves or society. Some of these schools could be produced in a geographical cluster to cater for the specific needs of students. All of society would benefit from that.

See this speech in context