Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith yesterday accused principals of being too quick to suspend students at the first sign of trouble.She told the House of Assembly that headmasters were breaking the law by dishing out suspensions when they felt like it.And she urged principals to stop suspending pupils for “the wrong reasons” relatively minor matters such as disrupting class or using profane language.Students should only be suspended as a last resort once all other means of discipline had been exhausted, Dame Jennifer said.And she stressed that it was important to stick to the correct procedure as a child’s education was on the line.Last month 44 children were suspended from the public school system. Seventy percent of these were out-of-school suspensions and 70 percent were boys. The Education Minister said the “statistics speak for themselves”.Dame Jennifer said: “Let me be clear, I do not condone bad behaviour.“Our principals and teachers have an extremely difficult job, but in setting an example of obeying authority and following rules and regulations, they too must adhere to the law.“Locking students out with no hope of their engaging in our education system will not solve indiscipline or any other problems in schools.”Children should only be suspended for acts of violence or if they are carrying or distributing controlled drugs or weapons, Dame Jennifer said.This can be when they are in school or when they are in their school uniform heading to or from school. Even then teachers have to be able to prove they have taken “progressive discipline” measures, such as warnings and detentions.She said it was also important that every child was given the right to be heard to put his-her side across. By law, suspensions should not last more than five school days, Dame Jennifer added. “There are rules and regulations and teachers must adhere to the law.”She continued: “In recent months I have been reviewing the suspension statistics and I note that they are happening far too often. There’s no evidence of a progressive discipline showing that teachers have exhausted all other means.”Dame Jennifer said she knew “extended suspensions” were also dished out, with principals taking it upon themselves to extend the maximum suspension period by two or three days.But Dame Jennifer warned: “This clearly is unlawful and the process has to be discontinued.”The Minister said staff and parents had to work together to encourage schools to be places where students would want to be to “to put their best effort forward”.Dame Jennifer did praise schools for having on-site behavioural therapists to “make intervention quicker”.Her comments came just a day after three boys were withdrawn from CedarBridge Academy for fighting, and injuring two male staff members who tried to intervene. Dame Jennifer touched on this issue after being quizzed by PLP MP Marc Bean, who said his two children went to CedarBridge.She said CedarBridge Academy principal Kalmar Richards contacted the Ministry after meeting with the parents of two students involved. The students were immediately suspended with expulsion expected to follow, but the parents opted to take them out of school.Ms Richards was unable to get in touch with the parents of the third student involved, but a counsellor said his parents would also be withdrawing him from school. Dame Jennifer said: “If they are within school age, the Ministry is still responsible for making sure they receive an education.“I am not condoning their actions but I hope they learn from their actions and will go on to achieve great things. We’re not going to throw them away just because they made a mistake.”Dame Jennifer gave her ministerial statement in the House saying she wanted to “clarify for everyone the rights of parents and students with regards to suspension and expulsion”.She met with principals on April 21 and told them the legislation was clearly spelled out in the Education Rules 2006.It states children should not be suspended for more than five school days and the Ministry of Education has to be notified in writing. Appeals can be made to the relevant school body.The Minister is the only person who can expel students. Parents can appeal against expulsion to the Ministry’s appeals committee. If a school-age child is refusing to attend any educational institution for whatever reason, this is also treated as an expulsion.The Education Act also states that corporal punishment is lawful in schools, as long as it is by the principal or deputy principal in the presence of another witness. Corporal punishment has to be carried out by someone of the same sex, unless the Commissioner of Education gives authority for a female to punish a male student.Dame Jennifer said: “This is our expectation and we expect schools to adhere to it.”Mike Charles, general secretary of the Bermuda Union of Teachers, said he agreed that teachers had to abide by the rules.He said: “I support what the Minister says as, if the protocol is there, it has to be followed. But maybe things need to be updated a little with regards to the type of students teachers are now having to deal with.”The Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy did not respond to our requests for comment yesterday.