Vol. 512 No. 8
136 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science whether the parent of a child who has been in foster care is entitled to obtain details of the school attendance record of the child while in foster care. [27350/99]
Under section 2 of the Education Act, 1998, the term "parent" is interpreted as including a foster parent, a guardian appointed under the Guardianship of Children Acts, 1964 to 1997, or other person acting in loco parentis who has a child in his or her care subject to any statutory power or order of a court.
Section 9 of the Act provides that schools shall ensure that parents of a student have access to records kept by a school relating to the progress of that student in his or her education.
In general, parents should be encouraged to take an active interest in their children's education and it is to the benefit of the children and the school when they do. Circumstances that would justify departure from this general approach would rarely occur and would usually arise only in the context of a court order relating to matters of access and custody.
While the issue of access to records in a school is essentially the function of the school authorities, my Department's position would be that schools should make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the interests and wishes of parents should at all times be respected and their rights given meaningful expression.
