Ministers warned to scale back teachers' search powers

14 June 2011 1 min read Lauren Higgs Education

Plans to allow teachers to search pupils in schools must be scaled back, the government's human rights committee has said.

The warning comes ahead of the second reading of the Education Bill in the House of Lords, which takes place today (14 June).

In a report on the bill, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) called on ministers to introduce guidance clarifying that pupil searches can only be made under serious circumstances.

The committee argued that guidelines are needed to state that secondary school teachers can only search pupils of the opposite sex "on very rare occasions", and that searches of anything other than pupils’ lockers, bags and outer clothing should only be conducted when there is a risk of imminent harm.

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