A teaching union has called on the Scottish Government to publish urgent guidance on the physical restraint of pupils during classroom violence.
At the NASUWT conference in Harrogate, members backed a motion saying there has been “a clear and complete abdication of responsibility on the part of the Scottish Government” in failing to provide new advice on seclusion and the use of restraint.
Statistics published from a union survey last year showed four in 10 Scottish teachers reported experiencing violence or physical abuse in the previous 12 months, while 93% said the issue had increased.
Draft guidance published by ministers in 2020 said restraint should only be used as a “last resort to prevent harm, with the minimum necessary force and for the minimum necessary time”.
However, the Scottish Government’s pledge to publish more concrete guidance by the end of 2023 was not met.
READ MORE: Teachers report pupil violence increasing in Scottish schools, MSPs are briefed
Previous guidance on physical intervention and seclusion was published in 2017 and remains in place.
During the NASUWT conference, the motion’s proposer Rod McCready said: “Why are we still waiting for this essential guidance 18 months after the Scottish Government consultation closed?
“Everyone knows the current context in schools. As we have moved on from the acute stage of the pandemic, violent and aggressive behaviour of pupils has significantly increased.”
Mr McCready said NASUWT members have been punched, headbutted and spat at.
“That is degrading for teachers, as well as harmful,” he added.
He said: “The failure of the Scottish Government to meet its commitment to publish guidance for schools on the restraint of pupils and physical intervention is leaving teachers and their pupils more vulnerable to assaults and attacks.
“Teachers are currently having to step into situations and put themselves at considerable risk to keep people safe.”
Mike Corbett, the union’s Scotland national official, said: “Members report to us that levels of violence and serious disruption in schools have become more frequent since the pandemic.
“Yet the Scottish Government has still failed to meet its commitments to offer schools the vital guidance and support they need on pupil restraint.
“The fact that our members decided to bring a motion on this to our conference demonstrates just how vulnerable they are feeling and how frustrated they are at the continued delays by the Scottish Government.
READ MORE: Aberdeenshire school photo row 'shameful' says First Minister Humza Yousaf
“The Cabinet Secretary needs to now act swiftly to get this long-awaited guidance into schools along with the associated training and support for staff.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Restraint and seclusion in schools must only ever be used as a last resort to prevent the risk of harm and existing guidance on physical intervention and seclusion, published in 2017, remains in place.
“We consulted on a draft of our new human rights-based guidance in 2022. We are committed to publishing final guidance as soon as possible, with the physical intervention working group being reconvened to make amendments to the guidance ahead of its publication.
“In addition, the Scottish Government is currently exploring options for strengthening the legal framework in this area, including the option of statutory guidance.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel