Nearly half of all school support staff in the UK have been the victim, or witnessed a colleague become the victim, of false allegations, according to a new UNISON survey.
The UK‰Ûªs largest union has written to English Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP, demanding that school support staff are included in government proposals to grant teachers anonymity from allegations by pupils, or their families.
The union is concerned at the huge damage caused to the careers and health of support staff. In only 2% of cases were the allegations found to have serious substance and ended in the staff member being dismissed, or pressured into leaving.
Jon Richards, UNISON‰Ûªs Senior National Officer for Education, said:
‰ÛÏIt is unfair for teachers to be protected from the public firing line, while school support staff are open to being named and shamed for a huge number of false allegations. This leaves support staff with enormous stress hanging over their heads.
‰ÛÏSchool support staff should be protected from malicious allegations and the situation dealt with fairly and properly ‰ÛÒ to protect both the pupil and member of staff.‰Û