4 school children a day excluded for teacher abuse (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire)

Cymraeg
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Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire <post@cwsplibdems.org.uk>

4 school children a day excluded for teacher abuse

October 22, 2008 12:00 AM
Originally published by Welsh Liberal Democrats

Speaking before this afternoon's opposition debate on teacher training, Eleanor Burnham, Welsh Lib Dem spokesperson for Children and Young People, will call on the government to ensure that teachers are given more training on how to deal with unruly and abusive children as figures reveal that four school children a day are excluded for teacher abuse.

Eleanor Burnham AM and a former teacher of underachieving children said:

"Every day, four school children are excluded from school for verbal or physical assaults on their teachers. It's not right that teachers have to work in an environment like this.

"These statistics provide only a partial picture of the situation in Wales as Teacher Support Cymru, a charity that provides practical and emotional support to teachers, received 26,500 calls from teachers in the last 3 months. This shows that they are under constant pressure from their work environment.

"Not only is this kind of disruption in the classroom distressing for teachers who devote their lives to teaching, it is also detrimental to the education of other well behaved pupils in the classroom. I don't want the actions of a few blight the opportunities for the many.

"There are various factors that lead pupils to act in an unruly and abusive way in the classroom and they need to be dealt with. However, teachers and trainee teachers need better training on classroom management to enable them to stop verbal or physical attacks before they happen. "It is sad that last week we found out the money for teacher development and training has already run out for this year, leaving many teachers who want to learn better teaching skills without funding. "Teachers, nurses and people who devote their lives to helping others have a right to work in a safe environment." ENDS/DIWEDD