Written answers

Tuesday, 30 June 2015

Department of Education and Skills

Parent and Student Charter

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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536. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the development of the parents' and students' charter; when it will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26073/15]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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My intention is to amend Section 28 of the Education Act 1998 to require every school to have a Parent and Student Charter according to principles set down in legislation that will set a national standard. As the Deputy may be aware, section 28 is the section of the Education Act 1998 that provides for parental complaints in schools. It expresses a desirability of determining appeals and resolving grievances in the school.

I am not satisfied with the current provisions of Section 28. I plan to revise it and to provide in law for a Parent and Student Charter. Changing how schools engage with, listen and respond to parent concerns will be an important part of a Charter. Providing parents with the rationale for any decision is important. If schools help parents to understand the basis for a decision parents are more likely to accept the fairness of decisions.

A core objective of the Charter will be to shift away from reacting to problems only after they give rise to grievances. Instead the emphasis will be on improving the day-to-day experience students and their parents can expect from schools so that grievances do no arise at all or are resolved quickly and informally, and as a result having to resort to a formal grievance process should be much reduced.

I plan to have this change introduced during the passage of the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2015.

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