Parents protest at 'culture of fear' in school

Parents who have kept their children out of a Midlands national school since January 20 are protesting for the third day in a row today (Friday). The protesting parent of one of the school's pupils claimed a substitute teacher has a metre stick that she refers to as "the beating stick" in class. Nine students from the teacher's class have been kept at home for a fortnight now, as they are too terrified to go back, according to parents involved in the protest. Parent protests have been taking place outside the school at both the beginning and end of each school day for the latter half of this week. One parent said the protests are to give a voice to their children, who he claims have been subjected to a "culture of fear" in the teacher's classroom. "We have children wetting themselves and begging their parents not to bring them into school," he told the Offaly Independent. "They are too scared to go back until the teacher is removed from the school. "The school has had nearly two weeks already to act on this," he added. "We need our children to be heard. We as parents have the right for something to be done." He said efforts have been made by some parents to enrol children in two other local schools, but after initially looking like possible options these efforts have been unsuccessful. Since taking his child out of school on January 20 he said parents of the absent children have also sent a formal statement to the school's Board of Management. However he said he and fellow parents are not prepared for their children to go back to school while the situation is being investigated. "As parents we're not going to subject our children to that," he said. "So many children have been so happy up until this point coming to this school," he added. "But now something has to be done. We just need the right thing to be done by our children and that's all we're asking for. "We're not going to force the children into an environment that they're completely terrified to go into," the parent said. Speaking on Wednesday evening to the Offaly Independent, the school's principal said the Board of Management is dealing with the situation as per procedures and the principal had no other comment to make. The Chairperson of the Board of Management said yesterday (Thursday) the Board is in the middle of investigating the situation following a set procedure.