Parents of pupils suspended, expelled or refused entry by a school will be able to appeal the decision at a private hearing where they can be represented by a solicitor or barrister. This is contained in draft plans produced by the Department of Education.
At the hearings, parents or their legal representatives will be entitled to question the school's management board on its decision to expel or suspend the child.
Up to 3,000 second-level pupils are suspended on any one day, according to a recent survey by the National Youth Federation. Their parents can now attend the hearings presided over by an "appeals committee" made up of two Department of Education officials.
School managers, through their representative organisation, the Joint Managerial Body (JMB), said last night they would rather not see legal representatives getting involved in the process.
They said they would be seeking amendments to the plans.
The Department said it intended to implement the plan, although it would be consulting the education partners.
Parents can only attend hearings if they have exhausted all options within the school and if they believe a suspension or expulsion is unfair or excessive. A suspension can only be appealed if it lasts longer than five days.
The committee will be entitled to call "relevant persons and expert witnesses", i.e. an educational psychologist or doctor, to the hearings.
Parents can introduce school, medical and psychological reports as evidence to support their case. Documentation introduced during the hearings has also to be made available to the school.
At present, parents appeal to the board of management or its trustees directly if their child is expelled or suspended. There is no provision for an independent hearing.
The plan, seen by The Irish Times, says: "At the hearing both parties will be given an opportunity to present their case. Both will have the right of reply and each will have the right to question the other through the chair."
While most appeals are expected to concern expulsions or suspensions, parents can also appeal if they believe their child was unfairly refused an enrolment in a school.
The idea of a new appeals system for parents was referred to in the Education Act, 1998, but the Department has taken two years to draw up details for a scheme.
The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, has reserved the right to extend the grounds for an appeal, although he says in the plan this will be done in consultation with the education partners.
Mr George O'Callaghan, general secretary of the JMB, said the plans needed several changes. Schools should be allowed to suspend for longer than five days or else there would be a flood of appeals to the Department.
The director of the National Parents Council (primary), Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather, said she hoped the new procedures would be "truly independent".
She said the grounds should be widened to include pupils who felt they were constantly undermined by their teachers.