School attendance of 23 children being monitored
The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) issued school attendance notices to the families of 23 pupils last March in cases where repeated intervention had failed to lead to improved attendance.
The board is obliged to take formal action if a student misses more than 20 days in a school year. But in most cases, the situation is remedied quickly, often with the intervention and assistance of other social and community services.
Where sufficient progress is not made, the NEWB can issue school attendance notices which legally oblige the parent to send a child to a named school for a specified period of time or face being taken to court.
NEWB chief executive Eddie Ward said: “We did have to issue 30 notices in respect of 23 children this year and they are being monitored. There have been no prosecutions taken but we are watching out for improvements in the children’s attendance.
“There’s no time limit as such on the attendance notices, but we will monitor the attendance until it has become more regular.”
He also said further notices are likely to be issued in many new cases during the current school year.
The sanctions faced by parents who are convicted under the Education (Welfare) Act of failing to comply with a school attendance notice are a fine of up to €635, up to a month in jail or both.
However, the NEWB has consulted with parents, teachers and other groups to find more suitable penalties that might be imposed by courts if prosecutions have to be taken.
The students whose parents have been issued with notices are attending both primary and second level. Mr Ward said they are from a number of parts of the country, including most cities and major towns.
The majority of NEWB staff on the ground are attached to cities and large towns where there are concentrations of disadvantage as these areas generally have the highest levels of absenteeism.
Attendance figures for the 2003/2004 school year found that each second level student in the areas of the highest disadvantage missed an average of 20 days, compared to just 14 days for students at schools in other areas.
