Schools under fire for snubbing estranged fathers

Dads who don’t live with their children are being frozen out by schools despite laws to tackle the issue.

A major new study has also found many schools are “hostile” towards estranged dads, who are edged out of their children’s education.

Campaign group Families Need Fathers Scotland said the ingrained attitude is out of step with Government guidance on how schools should engage with dads.

Last night Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont said it is vital steps are taken to ensure strong father figures in childrens’ lives are enshrined.

He said: “It’s important this organisation continues to campaign on that front. The more information there is available, the more we’ll be able to correct the situation in future.”

Families Need Fathers carried out a major campaign to highlight the issue in 2011. However, they claim little has changed since then, and a new, soon-to-be-published study has found many councils and schools are not adhering to guidance on how schools should engage with dads.

Fewer than half of councils contacted by the group provided details of their policy on schools engaging with non-resident dads.

Just two councils Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire have specific initiatives to tackle the issue. Only six were able to provide figures on the proportion of children whose parents do not live together.

The vast majority of councils also said they don’t have any published guidelines for head teachers on non-resident dads’ involvement in activities such as after school clubs.

In some cases fathers have wrongfully been denied school photos of their children or been excluded from having input to their learning.

Ian Maxwell, national development manager for FNFS, said: “There’s been a real lack of progress. Some councils and schools are trying their best but the majority have a long way to go. How do councils hope to make effective plans to include dads if they haven’t gathered basic statistics?”

Figures show that as much as 31% of children in some regions do not live with both parents. Campaigners argue the lack of effort of some schools on the issue is in conflict with the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.

This legislation had highlighted the need for schools to reach out to non-resident fathers in particular.

FNFS said it is aware of one case where a school lied to a dad when he tried to get his child’s school photo, denying one had been taken.

In another case, school staff ripped out a form asking for comments from parents or guardians at the back of a report card before sending it to a dad.

Ian Maxwell said that when couples split up it is often left up to non-resident parents to try to establish contact with schools.

He said: “The onus is on them to tell the school who they are and that they want to be involved in their child’s education. Often the attitude of school reception staff can colour the relationship for good or ill.

“It is not uncommon for the school to check with the resident parent before acknowledging the status of the non-resident parent.

“The legislation and guidance makes clear the resident parent should not have a veto on the school’s engagement with the non-resident parent.”

A spokesperson for Children in Scotland, which campaigns on behalf of young people, said it has produced a briefing paper urging MSPs to engage with councils to ensure improvements take place.

They added: “We hope, too, that local authorities and schools will review their policies and procedures to ensure staff are aware of fathers’ rights to be involved in their children’s education.”

The Scottish Government said it is working with partners across health, education and the third sector to ensure there is proper engagement with dads.

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