Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, line 5, to delete "20 school days" and substitute "10 school days".

I welcome the Bill, which provides for a radical change of our education system. While I was unable to contribute to the Second Stage debate I look forward to hopefully improving the Bill on Committee Stage today. This amendment deals with the number of days for which a student must be suspended before being able to appeal the suspension. The Bill, as drafted, provides that student must have been suspended from school for a total of 20 school days before he or she can appeal the suspension to the appeals committee. In school calendar terms, 20 days is equivalent to four weeks or one month, which is a long time for a student to be suspended before being able to appeal the decision. In reducing the number of days from 20 to ten days a student would be able to seek a review of his or her situation sooner, miss less school before being able to appeal the suspension to the appeals committee and, therefore, there would be less of a disruption to the student's academic or personal life.

I would prefer if it were possible to appeal any suspension. Currently, in most schools suspensions range from three to five days. If a student is unfairly suspended, he or she should be able to appeal that decision in a timely manner. I have supported parents in my community who were struggling to advocate for their children. Parents are often not aware that a school has not followed its procedures and policies in regard to suspensions. Teachers will often opt for suspension without even exploring with the child or student the reason for the behaviour. At the time of my first suspension from school at the age of 13, I had witnessed my friend being hit by a bus.There was no intervention by the school to see why my behaviour had radically changed. Reducing the number of days would allow the school, parents and, possibly, the board to become aware of why a child is racking up so much suspension. The school might be able to intervene at a much earlier stage to create a much better situation for and provide much better supports to the child, instead of relying on suspensions as a form of punishment.

I understand that in some cases we do need to use suspension, for example, if a child has become violent or has become a risk to someone. I am not saying we should not look to suspension at all, but we should have as low a threshold as possible as to when a child can be heard and advocate as to why he or she would rack up a total as high as 20 days suspension. If that is racked up over one year it is very hard to get back into school. It is very hard when one falls behind and the class has moved ahead so quickly. It really damages the relationship between a child and a teacher when that child is sitting in a classroom and he or she feels as though he or she is being left behind or unfairly treated. Will the Minister consider the amendment? It would be a positive intervention. I look forward to his response.