Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Jun 2000

Vol. 522 No. 4

Written Answers. - Early School Leavers.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

281 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of pupils who failed to transfer from primary to second-level school in 1999; the breakdown of these number on a county by country basis; and the steps if any which were taken to encourage these students to re-enter the education system. [19039/00]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

My Department is currently in the process of planning to extend the range of data gathered as part of the development of a comprehensive database on individual primary school pupils. The new database will provide critical information to support the implementation of policies and will also provide data for research and policy development purposes.

At present, my Department does not have a comprehensive database on pupils in the primary school sector and, unfortunately therefore, the information sought by the Deputy is not available.

The development of a database on all primary school pupils is a very significant undertaking involving the collection and processing of information on 450,000 pupils from more than 3,300 primary schools. It will take at least three years to put the full database in place and an allocation of £4.5 million has been provided for this purpose over the next three years, including £500,000 in the current year.

The IT unit of my Department is currently preparing a development plan for the project and it is intended to implement a first phase in a pilot group of schools during the coming school year.

In addition the Deputy may also be aware that the Education (Welfare) Bill, which is today being considered on Report Stage in the other House, will provide a new framework to address school attendance. The Bill provides for the establishment of a National Educational Welfare Board, with a general responsibility to ensure that "each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a prescribed minimum education". The legislation makes specific provision to track the attendance of all children at first and second-level, and particularly in the transition between first and second level.

The legislation also provides a specific support structure, through educational welfare officers, to address in a structured manner, the problem of early school leaving. Educational welfare officers will be responsible for supporting students who exhibit patterns of irregular attendance at school. The officers will seek to identify underlying problems causing such irregular attendance, and to support and assist students towards a pattern of regular attendance.

Where students drop out of the system entirely, such as during transition between first and second levels, the educational welfare officer will have a further role in following up such students and supporting them to return to education.