The use of po­lice in schools has come un­der scruti­ny in Par­lia­ment, with the gov­ern­ment de­fend­ing the ini­tia­tive as ef­fec­tive while the Op­po­si­tion warns it is a flawed re­sponse to stu­dent vi­o­lence.

Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter Dr Michael Dowlath says the pro­gramme is al­ready de­liv­er­ing re­sults, with 82 per cent of prin­ci­pals rat­ing it as ef­fec­tive af­ter its first six months.

“They re­port­ed im­proved de­ter­rence, ear­ly in­ter­ven­tion and stronger sup­port. And so, the da­ta showed the con­tain­ment of the vi­o­lence in schools and our prin­ci­pals con­firmed it,” he boast­ed.