MORE than £37,000 has been paid out to North Lincolnshire pupils injured in the region's schools over the past three years.
Over that time, a total of nine successful claims have been made.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that £37,195 has been awarded to pupils since 2008/09.
The total is more than double that of North East Lincolnshire, where nearly £17,000 was claimed over the same period, and almost twice as much as the £20,723 Lincolnshire County Council paid out.
In North Lincolnshire, the biggest claim came in 2008/09 when a pupil was awarded £7,500 following ligament damage. The cause has not been revealed
This year, education bosses have already shelled out £5,000 after a pupil trapped their fingers.
Andrew Percy, the Brigg MP and a former teacher, said the claim culture was impacting on school activities.
"What we're getting into with this claim culture is that now schools won't go on school trips or get into activities they would have done 20 years ago because now they're afraid of litigation," he said.
"We need to restore a bit of balance to the whole system.
"Some of these cases will doubtless be legitimate and laudable claims but we do have a bit of a compensation culture here where people can't seem to accept that accidents happen."
North Lincolnshire Council refused to comment on the figures.
Ben Lawrence, head teacher at Frederick Gough School, said he was "astonished" by the claims.
He said: "It ties in very nicely with the Government's announcement that they are going to make health and safety paperwork easier for school trips.
"Because if you're paying out £1,500 for a splinter, you can make the rules more common sense.
"I'm astonished and shocked.
"It's worrying because accidents happen in schools. They will do. There are doors in schools and, like kids get their fingers trapped in doors at home, they will get their fingers trapped in doors at school.
"If you don't have doors then will someone sue us if there's a fire and we haven't got enough doors to control it?"
Ken Rustidge, NUT executive member for North Lincolnshire, said the real issue was health and safety in schools.
"Schools should be safe places and from what I've seen the movement is going in entirely the wrong direction," he said.
"It's far better to make buildings safe. If you've got all the health and safety in place then there shouldn't be any need for claims."
Other successful compensation claims include £4,500 for a pupil who hurt a finger, and £4,000 for a fractured wrist.
source: thisis lincolnshire.co.uk
Lincolnshire Personal Injury
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