NASUWT: 'Coalition government is wrong to favour further deregulation'

Wednesday, 8 September 2010 12:00 AM

Commenting on the reported findings of a serious case review, prompted by the racist hammer attack on schoolboy Henry Webster, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers' union, said:

"The NASUWT has, for a number of years, been calling for a national register of all incidents of bullying, including prejudice related bullying, in schools. "Many schools are unaware of the extent of problems because of the failure to collect data.

"In order to put in place effective strategies at national, local and school level to combat bullying in all its forms, a comprehensive database of incidents is needed to show the full nature and extent of the problems.

"The previous Government was on the threshold of introducing important regulatory safeguards in this area. Regrettably, the Coalition Government appears to be dragging its feet on the introduction of a requirement for recording and reporting bullying incidents and is simply wrong to favour further deregulation.

"This serious case review is right to emphasise the importance of schools working together with relevant stakeholders, including the police and children's services, to combat bullying in all its forms.

"The Coalition Government's decision to repeal legislation requiring schools to participate in behaviour partnerships will leave intact the conditions that led to this tragic incident.

"The constant mantra that all bureaucracy is bad and unnecessary is putting children and young people at risk of serious injury or death."

ENDS

Stuart Gannon
NASUWT Press Office

Tel: 020 7420 9681
Mobile (and out of hours contact): 07966 198894
Address: 5 King Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8SD

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