Tusla issues 177 summonses over children missing school

Last year, there were 125 separate summonses issued, with 76 of them for primary school children and 49 for students in secondary education. File picture: Corbis

Tusla issued summonses to 177 different families because their children missed so many days in school since the beginning of last year.

The child and family agency said 52 summonses had been sent to parents or guardians in the first six months of this year, 32 for primary school kids and 20 for secondary school students.

Of those cases, 11 involved families in Co. Longford, 10 in Co. Meath, and seven in Dublin.

There were also summonses for truancy in eight other counties, but Tusla said the individual figures were low and release of the exact number could risk identifying the individual children involved.

Last year, there were 125 separate summonses issued, with 76 of them for primary school children and 49 for students in secondary education.

Over a quarter of all those cases were in Galway where there were 32 sets of proceedings begun by Tusla. There were also 22 cases in Limerick, 11 cases in Clare, nine each in Kerry and Roscommon, eight in Dublin, and six in Kildare.

Legislation

Tusla said that under legislation schools are required to report on attendance, including any case where a child has missed more than 20 days.

However, they said absences did not always result in intervention, especially if explained by valid reasons like illnesses or other family emergencies.

When it comes to recording absences, schools are asked to distinguish between “explained and unexplained absence” and report this to Tusla.

Tusla said: “If a school is satisfied with the reason provided for an absence, it will be recorded as 'explained'.

“However, if an absence is 'unexplained', the principal may make a referral to the Educational Welfare Service if they have concerns regarding the absence(s).”