Denis Naughten
Question:5 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will comment on the OECD findings indicating dramatically higher level of school non-attendance here compared to other countries. [16207/00]
Ceisteanna–Questions. Priority Questions. - School Absenteeism.
The Deputy is referring to a recent OECD publication, Education at a Glance 2000. Ireland participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, TIMSS, which was conducted in more than 40 countries during the school year 1994-95. The survey was conducted on eighth grade pupils which, in the Irish context, involved mostly second level pupils in first or second year. A moderate degree of absenteeism among eighth grade pupils was taken to be 5% as a basis of comparison. Ireland and Australia had a 7% rate of absenteeism, the third highest among the countries surveyed. High levels of student absenteeism can have a negative effect on a student's opportunity to learn and may be harmful to a student's learning achievement. In Ireland's case, the mean mathematics achievement in the test was higher in those schools which had a lower absenteeism rate, less than 5%, than in other schools reporting absenteeism rates greater than 5%. This was similar to most countries. Nevertheless, the mean mathematics achievement in Ireland was 527 against an OECD mean of 524 and this ranked Ireland as seventh among the participating countries.
I am concerned about high levels of absenteeism. There are, however, a number of factors contributing to absenteeism, including educational disadvantage. Since 1995 a number of initiatives have been taken to assist schools serving disadvantaged areas improve many aspects of their learning environment. These initiatives would be expected to result in improved attendance among disadvantaged students. These initiatives include an extension of the home-school-community liaison scheme, enhanced capitation for all second level schools serving disadvantaged areas, the introduction of the eight to 15 early school leavers' initiative and the stay in school retention initiative, improved resources to schools in terms of teacher allocation and capital resources and school development planning. There was also the leaving certificate applied and various other developments.
Additional InformationIn addition, the junior certificate school pro gramme was introduced to provide an alternative junior cycle curriculum for pupils who might otherwise leave school. I announced recently my intention to expand this scheme on a phased basis to all interested schools. The leaving certificate applied is now available in more than 200 schools and centres to meet the needs of those who find the leaving certificate and leaving certificate vocational programme unsuitable.
The Education (Welfare) Bill is before the Oireachtas at present. It will provide the statutory underpinning for a new structure and framework to tackle the causes and symptoms of school absenteeism. The National Educational Welfare Board will co-ordinate the activities of all those involved in so far as they relate to matters connected with school attendance. The board will identify the causes of poor school attendance by certain children and the adoption of measures for its prevention.
The issue of absenteeism is not a simple one and in order to successfully address the issue, the approaches employed must be wide-ranging and include strategies for identification, balancing of rights, statutory safeguards and school empowerment. I have outlined the major steps being taken to address the issue and I am confident those steps will provide the basis for developing and refining strategies to counter school non-attendance in the future.
The Minister gave us a good summary of the report but he forgot to mention the decline in GDP spend on education. Perhaps he might do so in his next reply.
Does the Minister believe it is acceptable that 25% of children in disadvantaged communities are regularly absent from school? What does he propose to do about that? What supports does the Department intend to put in place to ensure these children do not fall out of the system? What discussions, if any, has the Minister had with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment about the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act which is not being enforced? Schools do not know about the Act. What will the Minister do to ensure they are made aware of it so that children will be protected from falling asleep at the back of the classroom every Monday morning?
I agree it is a serious problem. The Deputy asked a question about international investment percentages. I do not have that information because the question did not refer to that. The question asked me to comment on the OECD findings indicating a dramatically higher level of school non-attendance here compared to other countries.
I mentioned some of the initiatives taken so far, although they have not had much time to have had an effect. They are good initiatives which have been useful where they have been applied. Some 24,000 pupils applied for courses such as the leaving certificate applied. That figure has doubled in the past ten years. These initiat ives, such as the stay in school retention initiative, are good and we must build on them. The allocation of funds for the disadvantaged will give me an opportunity to strengthen and target that work. I hope to do that during the summer so we will be ready to roll in the autumn.
As regards the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, what discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment about the enforcement of this legislation? Does he believe it is acceptable that many children are absent from school because they work late and are unable to get up the following morning to attend school? What will he do to ensure this legislation is enforced?
It is a problem. We have had discussions with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment about this issue on which we have strong views. A parliamentary question was tabled on this issue today.
Will the Minister issue a circular to all schools?