The introduction of a new system whereby complaints raised by parents about primary teachers could be fully investigated has been delayed because of possible legal implications now being considered by the Attorney General.
The Department of Education has confirmed the Attorney General is examining a section of the procedure where the response of a teacher to a serious complaint from a parent/guardian could be made available to the complainant.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) believes the rights of teachers could be undermined if a communication from a teacher to his/her board of management is released in this way to third parties. The Department has passed the whole issue to the Attorney General for consideration, and he will advise on any potential legal difficulties.
Senator Joe O'Toole, the INTO general secretary, said yesterday that while parents/guardians were entitled to know how their complaint was being handled, he could not endorse confidential communications between an employee and his/her employer being made freely available.
Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather, chief executive of the National Parents' Council (Primary), said the priority in any complaints procedure must be the fair resolution of problems experienced by the child. The NPC was seeking a fair process in which information would be available to all parties.
The complaints system now under discussion would allow concerns raised by parents about the behaviour of individual teachers to be fully investigated.
The procedure is designed to:
Enable parents/guardians to raise issues of concern in relation to their school.
Provide a fair, equitable and consistent arrangement for the investigation of complaints regarding the actions of primary teachers, recognising the rights of all parties in a spirit of respect.
In practical terms, the procedure could deal with cases where, for example, a teacher was vindictive or sarcastic towards a pupil. The procedure specifically excludes issue of professional competence, which will remain a matter for the Department.
The draft agreement on the new procedure worked out between the Department of Education, the INTO and the representatives of parents and school managers envisages the board of management would initially investigate a complaint from a parent/ guardian. If the complaint cannot be resolved informally, a formal complaints procedure would be triggered.
According to this, the parent/ guardian makes a written complaint to the board, which then requests a written response from the teacher. The Attorney General is considering this section; specifically, whether the parent/ guardian should be entitled to see the response made by the teacher to the board.
Should the complaint be upheld, the board may take serious disciplinary action or it can inform the teacher that any repetition will lead to disciplinary action.
The Government is obliged to establish a complaints procedure for schools under the Education Act. When the current legal difficulties are resolved, the new system will - in most schools - replace the existing arrangement as worked out between the Catholic Primary School Managers' Association and the INTO. The new complaints system is the first in which the National Parents' Council (Primary) has been formally involved.
According to information secured under the Freedom of Information Act, over 100 parents made official complaints to the Department of Education last year. Some of these related to teachers. Two teachers were dismissed in the State last year because of unfit conduct.