TEACHERS with mental problems or criminal records are able to work in schools because the Education Department makes no such checks on their backgrounds.
Last week a court was told that a teacher, who admitted sexually assaulting a schoolgirl, had received months of counselling for his ''problem'' before committing the offence.
The 35-year-old teacher is now awaiting sentencing for his abuse of the 15-year-old retarded pupil. During the hearing he was described as suffering from a mental problem which ''prevented him from controlling his sexual urges''.
Prior to the offence he had undergone eight months of counselling with a social worker. His lawyer said: ''He does have a problem. He knew he had a problem and it was something that came to him from time to time.'' So how did this man end up in a position that enabled him to remove a girl from another teacher's class in order to abuse her? Teachers in charge of mentally handicapped or maladjusted children are generally screened in respect of their qualifications and not their personal histories, according to the Department of Education.
And, say Social Welfare Department sources, school principals may provide ''glowing references'' for teachers they suspect to be a risk, in order to quietly remove them from their own schools.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education refused to discuss the incident, describing it as ''an isolated case''. But she admitted that, other than written references, no checks were likely to be made on a teacher's character providing he or she had sufficient teaching qualifications.
''Teachers in special schools are all qualified teachers. In addition to their teaching qualifications they receive training in special education.