Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 467: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on whether there are serious behaviour problems in many schools and that some teachers can be verbally intimidated and even physically assaulted; the steps she has taken to arrest this growing problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30562/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the issue of student behaviour in our schools and I have introduced significant measures over the last few years to address this matter.

In early 2006, I announced an implementation strategy following publication of "School Matters" the Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools, and that strategy is now well advanced.

At the core of the recommendations of the Task Force was the putting in place of a National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS). The NBSS was established in 2006 with the appointment of a National Co-ordinator and five Assistant National Co-ordinators. In addition, ten Regional Development Officers and fourteen part-time Associates were recruited to ensure the success of this significant initiative. A key feature of the composition of the National Behaviour Support Service is the assignment to it of a team of four psychologists.

These have been seconded from the National Educational Psychological Service and their presence will ensure that the team operates in a multi-disciplinary way. In addition a Literacy Development Officer and a Research Officer have been recently appointed to the team. The Literacy Development Officer will address literacy issues arising in the context of behavioural issues. The Research Officer will carry out research of current Irish and international literature and test against reality situations in Irish schools. This should provide an invaluable benchmark of the level of disruption in schools and the effectiveness of intervention by the NBSS. A full-time administrator is based in Navan Education Centre.

Since their appointment, the team has been working on a number of key issues:

1.The development of a Draft National Framework for Behaviour Improvement.

2.The development of models of good practice for systems in schools which assist with and impact on classroom and whole school behaviour.

3.On-going training for the NBSS team.

4.Research into and communication with behaviour support systems in other jurisdictions.

The NBSS is currently working with 50 selected schools throughout the country. Behaviour Support Classrooms have been established and staffed in 30 of these 50 schools. These classrooms provide an individualised intensive intervention programme for a targeted group of students. The Behaviour Support Classrooms are staffed by at least one qualified wholetime teacher. The Board of Management of the schools concerned have flexibility in relation to the employment of another wholetime teacher equivalent and may employ people with different expertise to cater for the needs of the students involved. I want to emphasise however that these classrooms cannot be, in themselves, a solution to the issue of poor student behaviour. They must be one part of a holistic response which should see a school, actively supported by the Behaviour Support Team, defining for itself a pathway to improvement.

The NBSS also propose to produce a training CD/DVD on all aspects of challenging behaviour, within the Irish context. It is envisaged that this would be available to all schools.