Many parents and teachers will be rightly disturbed at the implications of yesterday's High Court judgment concerning a teacher, one of his pupils and the local Vocational Education Committee. The facts, briefly, are these: the pupil was found on a school trip to be in possession of cannabis, an illegal drug, and, according to Mr Justice ╙ Caoimh yesterday, to have been providing the drug to other pupils of the school, Colβiste Rβith∅n in Bray, Co Wicklow. Supplying illegal drugs is also illegal. The school principal, Mr Gear≤id ╙ Ciarβin, reacted to this situation by, in effect, expelling the pupil. Three other pupils involved in the situation were ultimately allowed back into the school; one more was withdrawn by his parents. But the fifth boy, the ringleader as Mr ╙ Ciarβin would apparently have it, was not to be allowed back.
At this point, the VEC ordered Mr ╙ Ciarβin to re-admit the boy, something he refused to do. That action, taken in defence, as he saw it, of the rights of other children at the school, landed Mr ╙ Ciarβin in the High Court. Yesterday, Mr Justice ╙ Caoimh's correct reading of the law noted that only a VEC may expel a pupil; a school itself may only suspend for up to three days. Thus, Mr ╙ Ciarβin was ordered by the judge to comply with a directive from the VEC, his employers, and re-admit the boy and also pay the VEC's legal costs and those of the boy's parents.
It will strike many as grossly unfair that a school principal trying to remove illegal drugs from his school, and protect other children from coming in contact with them, should find himself in this situation, facing, perhaps, financial ruin. Members of VECs do not run schools on a day-to-day basis. Many are politicians and, on a matter of internal school discipline, it seems inappropriate that they should, in effect, second guess a head teacher, particularly on the matter of illegal drugs.
In this instance, it is questionable whether Bray VEC is reflecting the wider interests of society. Teachers today are under huge pressures, many of which come from increased rights, perceived and real, which parents (and pupils) are wont to demand, and some of which are the result of a more general reduction in respect for authority. In this case, a school principal appears to have been taking his responsibilities commendably seriously and will suffer for it. While the law is clear, as to who has the upper hand when it comes to running VEC schools, Bray VEC might usefully examine where its responsibilities lie.