Policies and Legislation in Education
There are numerous policies and legislation for education; these provide a fundamental structure by which all teaching bodies must abide by to ensure individuals are not discriminated against in any way, their human rights are not violated and that they are kept safe at all times, to name a few examples. I am going to discuss the main policies and legislation in further detail.
Education Act 2011:
This has numerous areas of consideration and is the latest of the Educational Acts to be passed through Parliament. It introduces target free early years care for preschool age children, makes changes to provisions on school discipline and restricts public reporting of allegations made against teachers/instructors. It has passed powers onto the Secretary of State, when five separate organisations were involved previously. The Education Act 2011 includes measures relating to school admissions, school meals, inspections etc.
Data Protection Act 1998:
The basic notion of this act is that any form of personal information that is obtained, stored or used must be kept confidential. This includes information about the individuals’ sex, age, address, sexual preference, political opinions, race etc. This Act also includes the right to access this personal data. This states that the individual must be asked their permission before such data is obtained, be made aware the purpose for gaining this information, as well as the details of the recipients that may have the personal information disclosed to them. There are of course, exemptions; for example, if there was an issue of national security or a crime has been committed the leading bodies in these fields may be exempt from following the usual procedures and rules.
Equality Act 2010:
This act is comprised of nine main pieces of legislation...
The Equal Pay Act 1970
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Race Relations Act 1976
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
The Equality Act 2006, Part 2
The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
What all of these Acts have in common is the enforcement of equality; no one should be discriminated against for being who they are. The Equality Act puts the ownership onto the public bodies; they have a duty to implement procedures that will remove or minimise disadvantages that people may suffer due to their characteristics and they need to take steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups. The Act also extends to the encouragement of people in protected groups to participate if desired.
Education without Discrimination in UK law:
It is unlawful for any education provider to discriminate between pupils on grounds of race, sex, disability etc. Until October 2010 the Equality Act came into force (see above) and this consolidated the various equality laws. However, the change in government to LibDem/Conservative coalition has delayed the full implementation of the Act.
Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 / Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: These two Acts cover many issues but all of which are in place to ensure that individuals (pupils and visitors alike) are kept safe whilst under the supervision of others and procedures are implemented to reduce the likelihood of injury. It is also noted that where young or vulnerable people may be affected the duty of care is greater. The main regulation when managing Health and Safety at work is that employers carry out risk assessments to reduce or eliminate risks. Employers must monitor and review their risk assessments, ensure people with appropriate training are appointed to implement safety procedures, set up emergency procedures and provide employees/pupils with information about them.
The Children Act (1989) and (2004) /...
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