Campaigners are to complain to the United Nations top official on torture and degrading treatment over new guidance for schools that they say fails to protect vulnerable children from physical restraint.
The new guidelines for dealing with “behaviours of concern”, which come into force across schools from September, prohibit the use of seclusion and only permit physical restraint in “crisis” situations.
Children’s rights advocates, however, say the guidance lacks sufficient safeguards to protect children.
At issue is a new reporting mechanism that requires schools to report any use of physical restraint to the National Council for Special Education.
Campaigners argue that the council has no powers of investigation which means there is no independent oversight of physical restraint in schools
AsIAm, an autism charity, and Inclusion Ireland, which represents people with intellectual disabilities, have notified the Department of Education of its intention to make a formal complaint to the UN special rapporteur on torture and degrading treatment before the reporting mechanism takes effect in September.
The groups say they have a “leading international legal team” supporting them with this work and will continue to engage with the department to seek an “appropriate remedy” before filing the complaint in the coming weeks.
The department, however, has said the guidance will “aid schools and provide guidance on effective approaches to supporting students with behaviours of concern”.
It has pledged that varying levels of training in the new measures will be made available to staff in schools.
This will range from online webinars and information sessions to more detailed training for schools who demonstrate a clear need. Special schools would be prioritised for this kind of training, it said.
Sources have said that Tusla, the child and family agency, has powers of investigation under child-protection legislation if there are concerns over restraint in schools.
Families of autistic children, however, want an independent body with the power to monitor or investigate schools who use practices such as seclusion and restraint.
A poll of 1,400 families conducted by AsIAm shows widespread concern over the practice as well as of school guidelines on codes of behaviour that permit special schools to expel children with behavioural problems.
Some 99 per cent of respondents in AsIAm’s Same Chance report believe that an independent body should have the power to monitor and investigate schools who use practices such as seclusion and restraint.
A similar proportion of families (98 per cent) believe families should be asked for consent before restraint is used in schools.
In addition, a large majority (87 per cent) do not think the current guidelines on codes of behaviour are inclusive of autistic students, while many (74 per cent) do not think it should be possible to expel a child from a special school.
Overall, most families (70 per cent) do not believe the education system is inclusive of autistic people.
Adam Harris, chief executive of AsIAm, said autistic children are regularly sanctioned, suspended or expelled based on their support needs.
“At its most stark, we see autistic children restrained by untrained personnel and without robust rights-based protections,” he said.
“The report documents our community’s clear rejection of the recently published guidelines on seclusion and restraint, which propose to put in place a reporting mechanism that is neither child-centred or rights-based.” He said the guidelines will create a system that will be ineffective at protecting the rights of children most at risk of abuse in the education system.
