Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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202. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his Department's role in disputes between parents and the boards of management in schools; his plans to provide mediation supports in view of the fact that the only recourse available to parents when there is no solution to a dispute is via the courts or the Ombudsman; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32085/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that, under the Education Act 1998, legally, all schools are managed by the school Board of Management, on behalf of the schools patrons or trustees or Education and Training Board (known as the management authority). It is the management authority that employs the school principal, teachers and other staff members. In ETB schools, the ETB is the employer.

Accordingly, whereas I provide funding and policy direction for schools, neither I nor the Department have legal powers to instruct schools to follow a particular course of direction with regards to individual complaint cases, or to investigate individual complaints except where the complaint involves a refused enrolment, expulsion or suspension, in accordance with Section 29 of the 1998 Education Act.

In dealing with parental complaints, my Department’s role is to clarify for parents how their grievances and complaints against the school can be progressed. Where a parent feels that the school’s board of management has failed to investigate or adequately investigate their complaint, they should contact the Ombudsman for Children.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children may independently investigate complaints about schools recognised with the Department of Education and Skills, provided the parent has firstly and fully followed the school’s complaints procedures.

As the Deputy may be aware, on 5 December 2016, I published the General Scheme of an Education (Parent and Student Charter) Bill 2016. The Government have approved the draft outline of a new law, which will require every school to consult with parents and students, and publish and operate a Parent and Student Charter. When enacted, every school will be required to consult with parents and students, and publish a Parent and Student Charter.

The General Scheme provides that a Parent and Student Charter will set out the service the school will provide, the standards that will be adhered to and the relationship the school will maintain with the students of the school and their parents. The General Scheme also sets out a number of broad principles on which each Charter shall be based on.

These principles include:

- 1. Consulting students and parents and encouraging their engagement and full participation in relation to school policies and plans;

- 2. Providing students and parents with information, including accountability for provision and information on school performance;

- 3. Inviting feedback, comment and observations from students and parents and developing a listening culture in the school;

- 4. Ensuring courtesy, confidentiality and equality of esteem;

- 5. Acknowledging gaps, deficiencies or room for improvement;

- 6. Positively seeking to address parent and student concerns and electively providing redress as appropriate in order to obviate as far as possible the need for a parent or student to rely on grievance and complaint processes;

- 7. Providing processes for grievance and complaint resolution, including mediation and remediation where appropriate, and

- 8. Having procedures that include accounting for the outcome of a complaint, the reasons for the outcome, and the basis on which the outcome was determined by the school.

Under the draft legislation, I will have the power, as Minister, to publish statutory guidelines that a school will be required to follow in developing its parent and student charter. These guidelines would be published after consultation with the main education partners, including bodies representing parents and students.

The Guidelines will set a national standard and will assist schools by effectively providing a template to be used by each school when preparing its charter for publication.  It is expected that the charter guidelines when developed will cover in detail the following general elements of a Charter:

1. How schools will engage with students and parents, collectively and individually

2. How students and parents will be consulted and invited to participate meaningfully in matters relating to the student’s experiences in the school

3. How students and parents can be empowered by the provision of information

4. How the school will be accountable to students and parents 

5. How specific Information on school performance in teaching and learning will be provided.

6. How feedback will be invited and how student and parent concerns will be identified

7. How the school will seek to be responsive and

8. How grievances and complaints will be handled.

The General Scheme of an Education (Parent and Student Charter) Bill has gone to the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills for pre-legislative scrutiny. Pre-legislative scrutiny began on 7 March with officials, NGOs and certain of the education partners, followed by a session on 21 March with some more of the education partners.  The Committee recently held a further session with the remaining education partners on 30 May. It is expected that the Oireachtas Committee will publish a report after the completion of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.