Problem pupils cause serious disruption
It is unfair to schools and front-line teachers to claim that problem students who have been expelled over the past five years have been deprived of the right to learn ('Schools forcing out problem pupils', February 20). Critics claim schools are doing this out of concern to protect their reputations and keep good academic records intact.
I think such claims are groundless. What is needed is a thorough understanding of what goes on in the classrooms.
Also, critics who make these claims show too little appreciation for the professionalism demonstrated by those people who work tirelessly with these problem students, many of whom come from broken homes.
The whole school system has been overburdened by the integration policy, in which special-needs students join mainstream schools; by the increasing number of younger and divorced parents; and by the demands of the new curriculum and exam syllabus. Why should distraught teachers and school administrators have to take the blame for what happens to these problem pupils?
If the background stories of all those expelled students were collected, I am sure we would have a clearer picture and ascertain who are the real victims.
What about the teachers who are forced to end their careers prematurely, thanks to the psychological problems they developed through having to deal every day with problem students?
