By James Rougvie

TEACHERS’ union the Educational Institute of Scotland has demanded greater support from national and local politicians in the run-up to the May elections in an attempt to tackle pupil indiscipline and violence in Scottish schools.

In a mini manifesto it will present to the electorate, the EIS says pupil indiscipline is probably the biggest concern for parents, teachers and the pupils themselves.

It has also highlighted a new and growing threat to classroom order—the abuse of mobiles phones which have camera or video functions, and which have featured in a number of assault incidents at schools.

The problem of indiscipline is spread throughout the country and was highlighted in Tayside and Fife last year when figures illustrated a total of 563 incidents involving physical violence or verbal abuse in Dundee schools in 2005-06, up 73 on the previous year, although Angus and Perth were lower than the previous year.

Fife’s figures for the same year were unavailable then, but its schools recorded 806 incidents in 2004-05.

Dundee’s figures went up despite a range of measures in place, including the use of anti-social behaviour and parenting orders, and long-term or permanent exclusion for the most troublesome pupils.

However, a couple of months after the city’s statistics were published, it was disclosed it was at the top of the league in Scotland for temporary exclusions in 2004-05, while only one child had been permanently excluded from one school.

EIS general secretary Ronnie Smith said that despite an acknowledgement from politicians at both local and national level of the need to tackle the problem, there was a clear need for greater support for schools to allow them to tackle indiscipline more effectively.

“It is the issue of persistent low-level indiscipline which is the most wearing and frustrating for both teachers and the majority of well behaved pupils who want to learn.

“Teachers, parents and pupils must work together to improve discipline, and firm yet fair discipline policies must be developed at a school level, backed up by effective sanctions, including the right to exclude pupils for persistent poor behaviour.

“Political and financial support from the Scottish Parliament and local authorities is absolutely vital.

“We cannot tackle the problem on the cheap—it will cost money to introduce the measures which are needed, such as smaller class sizes and specialist behaviour bases within and outwith individual schools.”

The union notes the misuse of mobile phones in schools, particularly those with a camera or video function, and calls for robust policies—with teachers given the right to confiscate phones in such cases.