Education and Skills written question – answered at on 28 June 2004.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills
(1) what recent assessment he has made of the change in the number of sexual abuse allegations against teachers;
(2) what assessment he has made of the rate of convictions in cases of allegations of (a) sexual, (b) physical and (c) verbal abuse against teachers since 1991;
(3) what assessment he has made of the effects on teacher recruitment of increased rates of false abuse allegations against teachers.
Information about the number of allegations of sexual abuse against teachers and the rate of convictions in respect of allegations of sexual, physical, or verbal abuse against teachers since 1991 is not available. Consequently it is not possible to make assessments of this kind.
My Department has no evidence that the issue of allegations against teachers is a factor that affects recruitment to the profession. Nevertheless, the issue of false or unfounded allegations against teachers, and other education staff, is one that we take very seriously. My Department currently funds a network of 25 regional coordinators who work with local education authorities, police and social services to improve the way allegations are dealt with, and we are actively seeking to identify ways of further speeding up the process and weeding out false or unfounded allegations as quickly as possible.
Yes0 people think so
No1 person thinks not
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