New figures show children as young as four are being suspended in Tasmanian schools
Alarming new figures have revealed a rising number of Tasmanian students being suspended for violent incidents involving other students.
Education
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CHILDREN as young as four are being suspended from Tasmanian public schools, as damning new figures also reveal a worrying trend of more students being suspended for violent incidents.
The instance of students being excluded from school for physical abuse of another student has increased by 25 per cent in four years.
In 2016, there were 1023 Tasmanian students suspended due to violence, but the number increased to 1349 in 2019 and dipped slightly to 1275 in 2020.
But that figure is skewed because of remote learning between March and June due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, six incidents occurred in Tasmanian government schools resulting in suspensions among kindergarten children and 37 involving students in Prep.
Overall, there were 6790 incidents in Tasmanian schools that led to students being suspended during 2020.
Labor MLC for Elwick and the party’s education spokesman, Josh Willie, said it was “unbelievable” children at that age were being suspended.
Mr Willie, who requested the figures over several months in parliament, accused the state government of failing to deliver respectful and enriching environments for young learners.
“Schools should be safe learning environments where every child is given an opportunity to thrive and clearly this data shows that’s not the case in all schools,” he said.
“The level of violence and anti-social behaviour in our schools is far too high.”
Meanwhile, the number of students suspended for physical abuse of a teacher or other staff member has remained at similar levels over the past four years, while the number of students suspended for what was specifically defined as bullying or physical harassment of a student has more than halved in that time.
Education Minister Sarah Courtney said every student deserved to go to school and feel safe, with a government policy designed to promote respectful relationships and address attitudes that led to violence.
“All allegations of inappropriate behaviour in schools are taken very seriously and immediately investigated in accordance with relevant departmental policies and procedures,” she said.
“All schools have access to professional support staff, which includes school psychologists and social workers.”
But Mr Willie said there had been insufficient investment in support staff, with students waiting too long for counselling services, leading many to become disengaged and some to anti-social behaviour.
“Under this government, very little has changed,” he said.
“Young people need to be supported, they are our future and education is our greatest opportunity as a state to improve social and economic outcomes.”
Mr Willie also called for stronger anti-bullying policies to be adopted in all schools.
He said Labor had taken a range of strong education policies to the recent election, including mental health workers in all schools and free healthy lunches for all primary school students.
Mr Willie said the issues were through no fault of teachers or school staff, some of whom he said were “at breaking point”.
Australian Education Union Tasmanian president David Genford said students were arriving at school with a variety of complex social, emotional and learning needs.
“These students need intensive support which is very difficult to provide when schools are underfunded by both the state and federal governments,” he said.
“Tasmanian schools are operating without an adequate number of psychologists, social workers
and youth workers to support students in tackling underlying issues preventing them from
focusing on learning.”
Mr Genford argued there should be at least one school psychologist for every 500 students, with that number currently at close to 900.
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