Record warnings over school absences

A RECORD number of legal warnings were issued to the parents of children who failed to attend school last year.

The National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) has revealed 319 School Attendance Notices (SANS) were issued in 2009, while at least two parents jailed.

The NEWB also issued 76 new court summons – also an annual record – while another 73 summonses were brought forward from the previous year.

In total, there were 40 convictions against parents for failing to ensure their children attended school, while 10 cases were struck out or withdrawn and 99 were still ongoing as of the end of last year.

One parent was sentenced to jail in Dublin city last year, although it is understood the woman never actually spent time behind bars due to a lack of space in the Dochas Centre. Another parent was also sentenced to a jail term in Tallaght.

The NEWB, which has not been allocated any additional staff or funding, stressed that bringing parents to court was always a “last resort”.

The 76 new summonses issued by it last year related to 46 children, the highest annual figure on record. A SAN is the first step towards bringing a parent or parents to court. When a SAN is issued an education welfare officer formally monitors the case and additional supports are offered, but in cases where this does not address the problem, a summons is then issued where the NEWB brings a prosecution against the parents. The cases are heard at district court level.

Michael Doyle, NEWB regional manager, said the new figures indicated that EWOs were now working in a more “streamlined way” when it came to court cases.

He said it was too early to say if prosecutions were resulting in children attending school, but he said there had been a “positive response to the issuing of SANs”.

On staffing issues, he said: “We are continuing to face severe challenges in some parts of the country in relation to our ability to provide a comprehensive service.”

However, other agencies working with children, including the Home School Community Liaison and Visiting Teacher Services for Travellers, are integrating under the NEWB, a scenario Mr Doyle said was “exciting”.