Pupils who make malicious allegations against teachers should face appropriate disciplinary action, including permanent exclusion, a teaching union said today.
The NASUWT today passed a motion at its annual conference to kickstart a campaign for government to provide guidance to schools on how to investigate malicious allegation, including swift action to test their validity.
The union’s national executive member Chris Holland said: “Most probably everybody here has a story to tell about someone they know who has had allegations made against them with no basis in fact.
“It ruins teachers’ lives [and causes] depression and suicide - all stemming from a story deliberately told by a pupil to deliberately hurt or victimise a teacher.”
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NASUWT member Wayne Broom, backing the motion, told the conference about malicious allegations made against him and said the first he knew about them was when he was summoned to the headteacher’s office where two police officers were waiting and wanted to ask some questions.
He said: “I refused their request which they were not expecting and said I would seek advice from my union [and solicitors]... I then felt intimidated as they said they would have to do it at the police station under caution.”
Mr Broom said “he didn’t change his mind” but later attended the police station with his solicitor.
He added: “What I want to get over to my colleagues and members is don’t be afraid to say no even if asked just to write down your version of what’s happened. Always seek union advice and guidance.
“Finally in my situation, nothing happened to the pupil or parents for wasting police time. No consequences were taken against the pupils in school who made the malicious allegation.”
He added: “It’s extremely important to prevent and deal with abuse of children who should always be encouraged to speak up however when these are malicious about our members they need protecting, including having anonymity.”
Following the backing of the motion today, the NASUWT will now campaign to lobby government to provide guidance to schools on:
- the legal ramifications of false and malicious allegations
- the need to maintain anonymity and confidentiality in the workplace
- the need for “speedy, decisive and robust investigation” to test the veracity of the allegations and whether the incident could have taken place as alleged
The NASUWT also wants unfounded allegations to be taken out of a teacher’s personnel record, and for national standards and training to be provided for governors and trust boards in dealing with allegations of abuse.
The motion also states that the union’s executive will lobby for headteachers to have “no tolerance of malicious allegations, taking appropriate action, including permanent exclusion, on pupils or students making a malicious allegation”.
