The number of violent assaults in New South Wales (NSW) schools has increased by more than half during the past decade, prompting a possible easing of restrictions on student suspensions.
Education Minister Prue Car has launched a review of limits introduced by the previous government on the duration and number of times a pupil can be suspended, which some teachers say leaves them with fewer tools to manage behaviour.
Last year, police responded to 1997 assaults on school premises—about 10 per day—up from 1217 in 2013, according to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data.
“I’m really concerned about the increase in assaults ... Our students deserve safe schools, and our teachers deserve safe workplaces,” Car said on Wednesday.
“As a new education minister, I have to listen to the experts and make a decision to review this policy in its complexity to make sure teachers can manage their classrooms.”
Under existing rules, students can only be suspended if they present an immediate threat to the safety or well-being of other students and staff, which some critics say makes it harder to address disruptive behaviour.
The Inclusive, Engaging and Respectful Schools policy also limits the length of consecutive suspensions to 10 days and prohibits more than three suspensions in a year without departmental approval.
NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Petersen said limits on suspensions gave principals less opportunity to address the underlying root of the behavioural issues.
“The main reason we need that time is so we can co-ordinate with parents, with other agencies, with paediatricians, psychologists to get support around the child to try and make sure whatever the behaviour was, doesn’t happen again,” he said.
“If we can’t address what caused the behaviour in the first place, then it’s counterproductive to bring the child back.”
Petersen explained that there is a range of environmental factors complicating the management of certain students’ behaviour, including dysfunctional family situations, substance abuse and association with criminal groups.
“If we’re talking about some of our really disadvantaged areas in parts of metropolitan Sydney, for example, it can be that you’ve got violence playing out in the community, and that’s what the kids are seeing modelled,” he said.
Car said the government’s plan to ban mobile phones in schools and address teacher shortages should also help curb violent incidents.
“There’s really unfortunate things that happened in school grounds with phones and kids bringing things to school that may have come from social media,” she said.
