Teachers seek anonymity over malicious abuse claims

Almost 1,000 teachers were victims of malicious abuse allegations by pupils last year, a teacher's union conference was told yesterday. The rising tide of accusations has prompted union leaders to demand anonymity for members unless a court proves their guilt, and for the innocent to be allowed to sue for compensation.

Delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers' conference in Blackpool were told that allegations had blighted teachers' lives and ruined careers. Many cases had taken more than a year to deal with before the teacher concerned was cleared.

Government figures showed that nearly 1,000 teachers were accused of abuse in 2002. Only 30 resulted in a criminal conviction. The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers said the number of claims against members had risen from 44 in the 1990-91 year to 188 in 2002-03.

David Hytch, from North Wales, told the conference: "There are people out there who will take a pop at a teacher simply because they can. What we have now is not justice. It is a coconut shy. Teachers should not be coconuts.''

Police often kept cases on their files even after the accused teacher had been cleared, "thus throwing the teacher's career prospects into jeopardy, possibly for perpetuity (sic)". Government figures show that of the 960 allegations made against teachers, only 41 per cent resulted in criminal or social services investigation. Of those, 30 per cent were sent to the Crown Prosecution Service but no further action was taken on three quarters of them.

Two thirds of the allegations related to "inappropriate behaviour'' towards pupils, mostly involving assault. In one in nine, sexual abuse claims were made against the teacher.

Sixty-two of all complaints were against male teachers and 31 per cent against women. In 7 per cent of cases the teacher's gender was not revealed.

But ministers have rejected the teachers' plea for anonymity. A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said: "The department is aware of and sympathetic to the distress caused to those individuals falsely accused.'' But he said that had to be balanced against "open justice and press freedom". It was also an essential part of the criminal justice system that witnesses should be encouraged to come forward in cases of alleged abuse.

"The present position strikes the right balance between providing effective protection for children and protecting innocent teachers and their families,'' he added.

* Tests for pupils at seven, 11 and 14 should be ditched in favour of a less stressful internal assessment regime, said the new general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the most moderate of the big teachers' unions.

Mary Bousted, 43, the first female general secretary of a TUC-affiliated union, also said it was time to put creativity back into the curriculum, speaking to the union's annual conference. She has been head of teacher training at Kingston University.

How a 35-year career, and a life, were ruined

By Richard Garner

The boy of 13 had a long history of disciplinary offences. His 55-year-old art teacher had an unblemished 35-year teaching record. Yet all it took was an unsubstantiated allegation of assault and the life of Graham Davies was in ruins. He was forced into early retirement for ill health despite being cleared by a court.

The case of Mr Davies, who worked in a Devon comprehensive, was cited in Blackpool yesterday in support of demands that accused teachers should not be named unless they are found guilty.

Andy Speake, deputy head of Purbeck school in Dorset, said: "The boy had a disciplinary record amounting to 91 pages." The boy claimed he had been head-butted by Mr Davies after being sent out of class for misbehaving.

The local paper named Mr Davies, with his wife and 17-year-old son, also at the school. The teacher fell ill and doctors diagnosed angina.