Inquiry calls for ban on long-term exclusions of students from SA’s public schools

SA’s public schools must be banned from disciplining students with long-term “exclusions” of up to 10 weeks, an inquiry has found.

A teacher disciplines a student. Picture: Generic

The practice of excluding hundreds of students from South Australia’s public schools each year for periods of up to 10 weeks should be abolished, a report commissioned by the State Government says.

The inquiry led by Queensland University of Technology’s Professor Linda Graham found suspensions, which are up to five days, and longer-term exclusions are used “too frequently, for inappropriate or minor reasons (such as not following instructions, minor physical acts, talking in or missing class)” and not in line with Education Department rules.

It found they are being used “in a manner that does not address the drivers of problem behaviours but likely reinforces it”.

Most damningly, it says they are “misused to build a case for funding or other supports for students”, particularly in cases of students have disabilities.

It suggests maximum 5-day suspensions for primary students, with a 6-10 day option for high schoolers, but only for the most serious incidents such as hard drugs, serious assaults or having “deadly weapons”.

Establishing an independent education ombudsman to manage an appeals and complaints process is also among the 76 recommendations.

A naughty student sent out of class into the corridor. Picture: iStock

Education Minister John Gardner also tabled in parliament yesterday a report by SA’s Commissioner for Children and Young People Helen Connolly, which gathered the views of hundreds of students and parents on disciplinary practices.

It found students felt they were “misunderstood, not heard and not supported” while parents felt schools rarely took into failed to take into account disabilities and family circumstances.

A third major report released yesterday found 1600 students who drop out of the state’s public schools each year, without completing their SACE, are not in work, training or other education by the following March.

The failure of so many young people to successfully transition from school is laid bare in an report commissioned by the State Government to find out whether early leavers were “earning and learning” or not – a huge blind spot in the education system.

That followed a series of stories in The Advertiser over several years that revealed alarming statistics, including that only 60 per cent of public students obtained their SACE.

The commissioned report by the Australian Council of Education Research found a majority of early school leavers, who leave from Year 10 onwards, were in other education, training or employment – but many weren’t.

Close to half of the hundreds of youths in the study said they didn’t know where to get information on their options after leaving school, and more than four in 10 were “unaware that there were various ways to complete SACE after leaving school”.

Many said wider subject choice, better teachers, more counselling or mentoring, and more flexibility could have helped them stay in school.

The report says in light of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, more research will be needed “to assess short, medium and longer-term effects on young people’s earning and learning pathways”.

Mr Gardner said “significant bodies of work” were involved in all three reports.

“A serious and comprehensive response is necessary but a precipitate response would be a mistake,” he said.

A public consultation on all three will run on the Education Department website until January 15.