TEACHER’S LIABILITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 705, 3 July 1929, Page 16

TEACHER’S LIABILITY

ACCIDENTS AT SCHOOL OPINION OF MINISTER WELLINGTON, Tuesday. Before there is any liability on a teacher in case of accident at a school, there must first be proved negligence on his or her part. That was the substance o£ an answer by the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. Atmore, to a question in the House of Representatives yesterday by Mr. K. S. Williams (Bay of Plenty), who asked whether in case of accident on school property there was any liability attaching to teacher or department. “The question is a legal one, and cannot be answered definitely, though the department has several legal opinions on the matter,” said the Minister. “The teacher’s responsibility for the children under his charge has been the subject of many cases before the courts, and it has been laid down that he should conduct himself in the same way as a wise and prudent father in regard to the children under his care. The teacher owes to the child a definite duty to take parental care of him. and if the teacher’s conduct falls short of this standard, and if injury is done to the child as a result, the child, through the parent, may have a claim for damages. “There must be proved first negligence on the part of the teacher—meaning something which a reasonable person would not do, or omitting to do something which a reasonable person would do. The question of whether there is negligence or not is usually decided by a jury which may also fix the amount of compensation. “The question of the liability of the Education Board is more difficult, and legal opinions on that point are conflicting. There is, of course, no liability on the department, which does not control and pay the teachers, except in the case of native schools.”