Dáil debates

Wednesday, 7 July 2021

Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 [Seanad]: Second Stage

 

3:07 pm

Photo of Marc Ó CathasaighMarc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I was momentarily confused when Deputy Gannon mentioned neoliberal terminology and referenced "service providers" and "customers", so I had a quick check through the Bill and neither of those terms are used within it. To confirm, I believe we are discussing the same thing.

I thank the Minister. Although the Bill dates from the previous Government, the pandemic has made us look afresh at the idea of what schools are. They are much more than the four walls of the classroom or the built environment, although those things and the quality of them are, of course, very important. However, when we are discussing schools, we are discussing communities and that extends inside and outside the school gate, not just from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. but much later than that. The job of a teacher does not finish at 4 p.m, just as the role of a parent as an educator does not only begin at 4 p.m.

Over the past 16 to 18 months, the pandemic has forced us to consider homeschooling, blended learning and the role of the parent in providing education as never before. It made us explore in a new way the possibilities offered by technology, as well as the challenges for and additional asks on the resources of teachers. Please God, in September we will get back to a more normal school environment. However, before I look at the specific provisions of the Bill, I make the point that this is the time to consider the lessons of the pandemic and using the school community, staff and maybe the inspectorate - there may be a role in the context of providing in-service in this regard - to glean some of those lessons we have learned. I would like the Government to take that on as an initiative. Let us not lose those lessons that were forced on us.

I welcome the Bill, which is relatively straightforward. I think all present understand its objectives. I very much welcome its proactive element. The Minister acknowledged that the 1998 Act was very reactive in terms of grievance processes. One will very often get a much better outcome both for parents and the wider school community if one engages in that process proactively at an earlier date, so I very much welcome that aspect of the Bill.

It sets down clear parameters relating to providers but we are somewhat blind in this regard as it will be necessary to see those guidelines set out in greater detail in order to ascertain whether they are doing a good job or otherwise. I understand that we need to engage with the stakeholders before those lines can be developed. I emphasise that this has to help boards of management. They are made up of people who voluntarily give their time to aid the State in the running of schools, so it cannot be an additional burden. We have to make sure the charter is streamlined in such a way that it helps boards of management in the running of schools. That is a very important consideration.

To turn to the specific detail of the Bill, I welcome the amendment the Minister proposes to make to the Title of the Bill. I was not going to speak to it. The inclusion of the full school community in the Title of the Bill is very welcome. I refer to the definition of "parent" in the Bill. Is it wide enough? Does it include guardians in terms of the charter being drawn up? Does it provide for relationships that are more difficult to define, such as a new a new partner within the relationship at home? It would be helpful if the Bill helped school communities to understand how they should interact with those partners.

Section 27B(3)(d) relates to "the procedures to be established by a board under section 20 for the purposes of informing students and their parents of matters relating to the operation and performance of the school." The word "performance" rings an alarm bell for me in the context of how that performance is defined. One thing the pandemic definitely taught us is that schools do much more than deliver academic content. They also care for the well-being of their students. There are schools that are outstanding in terms of their performance, the service they provide to communities and how they nurture the children in their care who may not have the best academic outcomes in the world.

When I see the word "performance", it always gives me pause for thought. I do not want to end up in a league table situation.

I welcome section 27B(3)(j)as a provision. It is about the idea that data should be provided on grievances that happen within the school and that it should be anonymised. Certainly, we have to have that transparency built into the charter. However, we also have to accept that in the reality of a small school and a community setting, anonymised data will not exist in that way. We might write it in a Bill but it does not exist in reality. Therefore, perhaps that is something that we should look at when we come to Committee Stage.

Section 27C(b), (e) and (f) are really about the student voice and the voice of the wider school community. I welcome that. It is one of the things that makes this legislation very welcome and progressive.

I join other Members in praising the role of the student voice in the last 18 months, and in particular, the Irish Second-Level Students' Union. It has been outstanding in how it has put its point across. The Minister has also done a very good job in responding to the issues it has raised and the challenges involved.

Finally, I wish to state that we must be mindful of our teachers in this. The move to blended learning or home schooling has been difficult. It is not just specific to teachers. For all of us who have been working from home, it has been very difficult to define when we are working and when we are not. We must be mindful of that. Of course, we want students, teachers and parents to communicate in a much better way, but parents are normally ready to communicate after work and teachers should only be communicating during their working hours. We need to be mindful of the need to strike a balance between those things and to respect the right of our teachers to disconnect.

I welcome the Bill. I think it is good legislation. I look forward to supporting it in its passage through the Dáil.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.