103 qualified primary teachers in full-time teaching jobs in 103 different primary schools in Dublin participated in the study which was carried out in Janaury by Dr Helen Buckley of the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin and  Dr Kathryn McGarry of the Department of Applied Social Studies at NUI Maynooth.

It had been the authors' experience that young teachers knew less than one might expect about child protection procedures and were often unaware of the steps to take in cases of suspected abuse. This in itself indicated that child protection did not have a high place on the educational agenda and prompted them to carry out the study. 

Key findings of the report include:

• Half of teachers did not know if their school had a child protection policy or not. Of those who were aware their school had a policy, 49 per cent had not read it;
• When asked if they had confidence in their ability to identify abuse or suspected abuse, 57 per cent indicated uncertainty or lack of confidence to reasonably suspect that a child is being harmed or at risk of being harmed;
• 48 per cent said there was a child protection input in their teacher training. Of the remainder, 21 per cent reported that they did not have any such input, while 31 per cent said they could not remember.

The Department of Education has been issuing guidelines on child protection since 1991 and for the past 10 years, all schools have been obliged to have child protection policies in place.

Dr Buckley says it is vital that each school has clear and effective child protection procedures in place in accordance with these guidelines.

Recommendations of the report:

• Every school must have child protection procedures in place in accordance with Department of Education guidelines and these should be brought to the attention of management, staff and parents;
• Management arrangements in schools should provide for the planning, development and implementation of child protection programmes;
• School management should provide all new staff – whether teaching or otherwise – with a copy of the school’s child protection guidelines and ensure that they are familiar with the procedures to be followed.

The study says the role of the school in the protection and welfare of children is significant because of the many opportunities available to primary school teachers to monitor children in a range of situations.

“It is all the more important, therefore, that schools are ready and willing to identify and act on any concerns they may have about the protection and welfare of their pupils," the authors say. (Source: Irish Times)