Human rights warning over school discipline plans

Source: BBC

 

Wide-ranging new powers for teachers to search pupils and delete photos from their phones may fall foul of human rights laws, MPs and peers have warned.

Other plans in the Education Bill to limit the powers of school exclusion appeals panels are "incompatible" with the law, the joint committee says.

It recommends changes to plans for English schools to tighten up guidance on when pupils can be searched.

The government says it is "confident" the bill is compatible with the law.

 

School staff in England already have the power to search a pupil, or their possessions, if they believe they may have a "prohibited item" with them. The items are listed in statute and include weapons, drugs and alcohol.

But the Education Bill would extend powers of search to include "any ... items which the school rules identify as an item for which a search may be made". The bill does not specify what those items must be.

 

There may be serious implications for the right to private and family life”End Quote Hywel Francis Committee chairman

The government claims the bill will restore discipline and reduce bureaucracy in schools - it has already completed its Commons stages and is now being considered in the House of Lords.