Parents could be forced to pay the consequences before the courts if they fail to take responsibility for the behaviour and actions of their children, Education and Development Minister Paula Cox said last night.

In her budget speech in the House of Assembly, Ms Cox said she was seeking ways to ensure that parents knew what their responsibilities were for their children, and was looking to implement measures to deal with those parents who blatantly flouted their duties.

She said the education of Bermuda's children was a community issue, with every aspect of the Island having to play a role. Parents, churches, businesses and community groups had to ensure that they had some involvement in school life and learning in a bid to make sure that Bermuda created leaders of tomorrow.

She said: "It is clear...that we cannot leave the education and the discipline of our children to teachers alone. The whole community has a role to play. Most importantly, parents have a key role to play in their children's education. Teachers need their support."

She said the new Code of Conduct would set out parental responsibilities regarding the behaviour of their children in school. She added: "In addition, we are considering ways in which we can emphasise the importance and value of the parental role in education and in matters relating to discipline, especially of disruptive students.

"This could conceivably include consideration of measures that include adopting an approach which made the parents more responsible and accountable in a tangible way for the behaviour of their children, while they are at school.

"Note, there is already a legislative framework in place regarding truancy, which provides a mechanism for sanctions where the parent does not ensure that their children attend some form of schooling."

Ms Cox accepted some times students are disruptive, despite all the best efforts of their parents and teachers. However, she said she expected parents to be able to demonstrate that they had accepted responsibility.

"She added: "We will have to consider what is the best methodology to achieve the desired aim and seek input.

"We could, for example, consider introducing legislation to enshrine parental responsibility in law. However, we are not yet at the implementation stage and we will give due consideration to how best to advance the desired goals."

The law on truant students stipulates that parents can be held responsible if their children repeatedly miss school. If a series of letters and meetings fail, as a last resort, parents can be taken to court, fined and placed on probation, and can even have their children taken away from them. Ms Cox's comments follow claims that disruption in Bermuda's classrooms is on the increase. In December, the entire teaching staff at CedarBridge Academy held a sit-in, which resulted in the 900 pupils being sent home, over the unruly, disrespectful and sometimes criminal behaviour of a small minority of its students. Last night, chairman of the PTSA Terry Flood welcomed the proposal to introduce new measures to ensure that parents played their roles to the full, and said everyone should be aware of the consequences.

He said: "The (CedarBridge) PTSA supports this fully.

"Parents need to know their responsibilities and they must live up to them. They should be willing to face the consequences if they don't.

"I definitely believe there should be consequences in place if parents fail in their jobs. The law should be enforced and parents should be prosecuted."