Primary schoolkids: 19 per cent rise in classroom bans

The number of children permanently excluded from schools is increasing as heads mount a crackdown on unruly pupils.

Official figures out today show a 10 per cent rise in the bans on comprehensive pupils and a 19 per cent jump in the number of primary school children excluded from the classroom.

Estelle Morris is "not too upset" about the increased use of exclusion - the first rise since 1997.

The soar in numbers coincides with a new focus on discipline by the government in the wake of headlines about "teenage tearaways".

The education secretary emphasised that the increase in exclusions did not mean that children were losing out on education

"Exclusion is a last resort and is only used with good reason. Our priority is to support headteachers who take tough decisions when dealing with bad or criminal behaviour," she said.

"But we also have made sure that excluded pupils are given full-time education and don't roam the streets. That is why we've invested £600 million since 1999 in over 300 pupil referral units."

From September "every excluded pupil will have access to full-time study" Morris said.

And, speaking to the BBC, the education secretary stressed that most schools were "well-orderly and well-disciplined" places.

"Most schools are well-orderly, well-disciplined places and for many children they are the most disciplined and most orderly places in their lives," she told the Today programme.

A vision at odds with the grassroots experience of the teaching unions.

"It comes as no surprise to me that permanent exclusions have gone up," said the general secretary of the National Teachers Union.

Doug McAvoy believes that the situation in schools is getting worse.

"Our recent survey on unacceptable pupil behaviour confirmed 80 per cent of teachers think that pupil behaviour has worsened in the last few years," he said.

"It is a sad fact that the behaviour of primary age children has deteriorated."

An outlook confirmed by David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

"Today's figures reflect the reality of rising levels of pupil violence, disruption and abuse," he said. "They demonstrate the futility of the government's previous policy of artificially driving down exclusions.

The rise follows a Labour U-turn on a pledge to cut the number of classroom bans, with the government giving powers back to heads in January, after exclusion rates plummeted from a 1996-97 peak of 12,700.

After an initial promise to cut exclusions by a third, the government has reversed the trend.

With an 11 per cent rise in exclusions since 2000 the education secretary has effectively given the green light to further increases in a bid to tackle discipline in schools.

"There has to go a clear message to young people that behaviour is important, if boundaries are crossed consequences will be take. Message to heads: you are free to discipline your children," she told the BBC

Morris acknowledges "the other argument that we desperately want to keep children in school and learning" highlighting the creased support available for excluded children.

"In 1997 if a child was excluded they were excluded to the streets," she said.

"The whole business now is far different than it was in 1997, which why in a strange way I'm not too upset if the figures have risen today. Because I know the world of education is different, more support, more education for excluded children."

But the Lib Dems are concerned about the trend.

"If the secretary of state encourages schools to exclude children permanently then of course the figures will rise," said the party's education spokesman.

Phil Willis argues "teachers will increasingly lose control in schools unless there is a radical re-think over the curriculum, testing and rigid methodology imposed by Estelle Morris and her department".

"Not only do the latest figures demonstrate a failure of government policy they reveal the lack of alternative provision for challenging young people," he said.

And banning children from the classroom creates more problems than it solves.

"Throwing children out of school solves one problem but immediately creates many more for the young people themselves as well as society," said Willis.