THE disclosure of a four-fold increase since the beginning of the decade in the number of primary pupils expelled from school is alarming.

And even when the total of almost 1,500 exclusions is measured against the two million children of primary school age, the revelation is still disturbing.

That is because expulsions are a very last resort and, so, these figures form only the tip of an iceberg of evidently widespread and increasing disruption by very young children in lots of schools. What is the cause?

Research shows that 80 per cent of the troublemakers who were expelled came from families known to the police or social services - in short, from problem homes.

But why the four-fold surge in their numbers?

Ruefully, it seems, we are looking at the decline of discipline not just in schools but also at home.

It would be no surprise to find that this sharp rise in expulsions runs parallel to the increases in divorce and single-parent families.

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