‘Threat of jail for truancy means State has failed’

PARENTS’ representatives have said they believe State systems have failed if the threat of jail is held over parents who do not send their children to school.

The National Parents Council-Primary was responding to news — reported by the Irish Examiner yesterday — that warrants have been issued against eight Co Limerick parents who face 40-day sentences in prison for not paying court fines.

They were among 10 parents of five children brought before Rathkeale District Court last July by the National Educational Welfare Board for not keeping their children at school. NPC-P spokesman Philip Mudge said that sending a parent to jail is never the answer because it will not send a child back to school.

“If you get to the stage where a parent is being threatened with jail, the system has failed from basic education to the family supports, whether it’s health or social services or anyone else,” he said.

“The National Education Welfare Board needs more staff to intervene earlier in cases because they can only get to families in black spots of poverty first at the moment,” said Mr Mudge.

The board has said it only takes legal proceedings against parents as a last resort where all efforts, including the issuing of school attendance notices, have not brought about an improvement in a child’s attendance.

It has issued 146 notices to the parents of 102 children so far this year and proceedings have also begun against a number of those parents, as well as the families of 17 children who were brought to court last year.

The board operates under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, which requires its staff to get involved where a child has missed at least 20 days of school in a year.

When it began working in 2003, it was expected to have up to 300 staff but staff levels stand at a little more than 100.

The number is due to rise by around 50 by 2009 under government commitments made in the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement.

The board was also criticised recently by a judge for not bringing a case to the District Court earlier after two brothers missed an average of 100 days each in the last school year and the younger boy missed all but seven school days since last September.