| Although the rate of 91 removals from class per 1000 pupils in 2002/03 was down on the previous academic year, the figure remained almost twice the national average.
Dundee City Council was today putting a brave face on its demotion to bottom of the class, having recorded the second highest exclusion rate the previous year.
A spokesman said, “Dundee City Council continues to take discipline in its schools very seriously and exclusion is used, where necessary, as part of a wide range of strategies to help improve pupils’ behaviour.
“These latest figures show the number of exclusions in Dundee City Council schools has dropped by 6% over the last year, compared to a national fall of 2%.”
According to the statistics, 207 children were excluded from Dundee primary schools last year. That equalled 19 per 1000 pupils, the highest figure in the country.
From secondary schools there were 1596 exclusions (184 per 1000 pupils), while just two pupils were excluded from special schools.
The total figure of 1805 temporary removals from class involved 917 different pupils. No children were removed from the register.
The spokesman continued, “It is essential parents are involved in the process of improving pupils’ behaviour.
“Procedures are in place to ensure they discuss fully the situation with the school as soon as possible before the pupil returns from exclusion.”
Overall, there were 50 exclusions per 1000 pupils from local authority primary, secondary, and special schools in Scotland in 2002/03, ranging from Dundee’s 91 to just seven in Eilean Siar and Shetland Islands.
In Angus, the figure was 45 cases per 1000 pupils, in Perth and Kinross 35, and in Fife 62. |
