teaching can take place in schools where there is no discipline.

So far, the community has heard from Bermuda Union of Teachers executive officer Michael Charles, who says teachers feel powerless to discipline their students -- and their students know it.

That claim was answered by Education Minister Sen. Milton Scott, who said that teachers did have disciplinary powers, namely in and out-of-school suspensions.

This newspaper is not suggesting a return to the days when the cane was the teacher's best friend.

But the fact is that any teacher -- and Sen. Scott should know this better than most -- will tell you that the lack of classroom discipline remains their biggest challenge.

Suspension, at least to some minds, may appear to be more of a reward than a punishment.

In-house suspensions presume that the student concerned has problems for which he needs help. That is undoubtedly so, but the badly-behaved student also needs a reminder that he or she does not want to repeat those actions.

Finally, Sen. Scott said nothing about expulsion which, as Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith noted, must be in place for the incorrigible student.

In addition, parents must support teachers. The parent who flies to the defence of the child without first finding out the facts is hurting the child if it turns out the child was in the wrong and damaging the credibility of the teacher as well.

OMBUDSMAN EDT Ombudsman The story in today's newspaper on the need for a Government Ombudsman shows the benefits of just such a position.

While there has been some debate about whether such a post should be in the Constitution or simply created via legislation and some concerns that there has been no public demand for the post, few could disagree that it is a worthwhile post.

Giving the public the right to seek redress for Government actions without the complexities or expense of a court case is good governance and should give ordinary citizens more say than they now have.

The Ombudsman should have Constitutional protection because his or her independence has to be guaranteed in the same way that the Auditor's is.

This is a sensible move which deserves support.