Under-6s not covered by law on absenteeism
Figures from the Department of Education also show that nearly half of them may still not be covered by the Education (Welfare) Act going into the second term of senior infants in January 2013. Based on the ages of junior infants over the last five years, they would still only be five then but the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) only has powers to intervene in cases where children miss school regularly if they are aged between six and 16.
While parents appear to be sending their children to school later in recent years, the official figures mean the attendance of all but around 1,000 of this year’s junior infants can not be monitored by the NEWB until after Christmas.
It has to be notified by a school where a pupil misses 20 days or more in a school year but its staff are legally powerless to take action against parents of four-year-olds and five-year-olds. For those aged six to 16, the NEWB has to be notified where a pupil misses 20 days or more in a school year.
Irish National Teachers’ Organisation president, Noreen Flynn, said this discrepancy should be examined with a view to amending the law so all children would be covered when they are enrolled.
“The law is out of kilter with what’s happening in practice. You could have a child starting school at four or five and on the roll, but if they are regularly absent or family gets into bad habits around attendance, a child falls behind,” she said.
The Department of Education had examined the possibility of raising the age that children can start school to five ahead of last December’s budget. But the Irish Examiner understands the proposal is not part of current budget discussions between Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s officials and the Department of Finance.
The first months and years of children’s education are the most important in developing their literacy and numeracy skills. But more than one-in-10 primary pupils misses at least 20 days of the school each year, say NEWB statistics.
Mr Quinn has made improving literacy and numeracy standards one of his top priorities. Planned major reforms include a requirement from the new school year that all primary pupils receive 90 minutes of lessons devoted to literacy every day and 50 minutes on numeracy.
