Time for tough action on violent and disruptive pupils says MSP

May 21 2009 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A TORY MSP has hit out at the growing indiscipline in Scottish schools.

Speaking in last week's Scottish Conservative debate, Margaret Mitchell, Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, said that the decision to keep disruptive pupils in mainstream classes was “totally unacceptable.”

She added that that problem pupils are “causing havoc for the well-behaved majority, hindering their ability to learn and making teachers' lives a misery”.

She said: “There is no quick fix but there is a definite need to send out a distinct and unambiguous message that persistent and, more worryingly, serious incidents of disruptive behaviour, increasingly involving a weapon, will simply not be tolerated in Scottish schools.

“This message requires to be backed by decisive action.”

The MSP also called for more data identifying the number and type of exclusions to be published by the Scottish Government.

“How on earth do they hope to begin to tackle this issue if they have no idea of the precise nature and extend of the problem?” said Mrs Mitchell.