Schools Excluding Difficult Children Illegally, Says Think Tank
Schools are encouraging parents to remove "difficult children" in order to avoid officially excluding them, a think tank has revealed.
The report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) accuses schools of manipulating the current system to exclude what they describe as "society's most vulnerable children and young people".
Figures from last year show around 5,740 pupils were permanently excluded and 331,380 were excluded on a fixed-term basis, numbers that the CSJ describe as a "significant majority".
The report states: "Many pupils are being profoundly misunderstood within some mainstream schools. The underlying causes of their behaviour, and their needs, are not being addressed properly. As a result, there is a near-hidden group of children and young people in our education system which is being failed."
The think tank blames a lack of transparency as well as insufficient monitoring by schools, local authorities and the Department for Education and calls for action to be taken immediately.
CSJ Executive Director Gavin Poole said: "It is vital that unscrupulous and sometimes illegal practices indulged in are confronted head on. The money for these ‘ghost pupils’ is retained by the
First Posted: 12/9/11 22:37 GMT Updated: 12/9/11 22:37 GMT