A key focus of the Government's education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups.
The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was established under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The NEWB is a statutory agency operating under the aegis of the Department of Education and Science.
The general functions of the NEWB are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The Board is developing a nationwide service that is accessible to schools, parents/guardians and others concerned with the welfare of young people. For this purpose, Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) have been appointed and deployed throughout the country to provide a welfare-focused service to support regular school attendance and discharge the Board's functions locally.
The NEWB through their local EWO has involvement with the Garda Junior Liaison Scheme. There are regular and ongoing contacts made by way of referrals to the HSE where the EWO has concerns regarding the welfare or care of a child. There is also attendance and participation by EWOs at Child Care Conferences and meetings convened by the HSE.
The Board, appointed an expert group in November 2005 to draw up a discussion document on the guidelines for schools on developing Codes of Behaviour. This document will form the basis for a widespread consultation process with schools, parents, education partners, organisations working with children, and critically, children themselves. The feedback from this consultation phase will inform the final Guidelines.
The Guidelines will focus on how schools can deal progressively and inclusively with behavioural issues, thereby helping to support participation in education for all. Poor behaviour impacts on the learning and teaching environment in a school and valuable class time can be taken up managing it and can also be a barrier to good attendance and participation in school activities.
In addition to the NEWB staff previously referred to, there are some 490 staff in education disadvantage programmes whose work involves a school attendance element. My Department is anxious to ensure that the maximum benefit is derived from these substantial personnel resources. Consequently work is ongoing to develop appropriate protocols for integrated working between the different services involved.
In launching "School Matters" the final Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools, I outlined a package of measures to tackle student behaviour issues. In my view, implementation of the report must be approached in a prioritised and carefully structured way.
My Department has made arrangements to set up the National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS) which is at the core of many of the Task Force recommendations and I see this as a critical first step in their implementation. The role of this team will span the spectrum from diagnosis of school problems to assistance with remediation. It is expected that this team will be in place in the next school year and will be working with up to 50 schools. This team will work with schools that are experiencing significant discipline problems. It will be staffed by experienced practitioners from across the education sector, including additional psychologists dedicated to this area.
The Behaviour Support Team will become intensively involved in the school over a period of time with the desired outcome being the identification, at school level, of those measures and changes which need to be put in place in order to bring about a real and sustained improvement in student behaviour. As part of this process I also intend to trial up to 30 Behaviour Support Classrooms in those schools experiencing severe behavioural difficulties with students. Schools chosen to trial a Behaviour Support Classroom will be expected to demonstrate a real commitment to dealing with all causes of the discipline problem in their school.
The Junior Certificate Schools Programme is a critical intervention in many schools at present and one which is proposed for expansion by the Task Force. It is intended to allow appropriate and focussed expansion of this programme where proposals to this effect result from the engagement of the Behaviour Support Team with individual schools.
The Task Force report recommends the expansion of existing Youth Encounter Projects and Youthreach services instead of putting in place a new service of out of school provision. My Department's Regional Offices network will compile a comprehensive list of existing alternative educational provision nationwide, which the Behaviour Support Team will analyse. This will in turn provide a capacity to augment existing provision where gaps exist.
The Task Force also recommended that the Section 29 legislation be amended to stress the rights of the compliant majority to learn while at the same time protecting the rights of the persistently disruptive student to an education. It also recommends that the timeframe involved in these appeals be looked at. I have decided to review existing legislation in order to take account of the Task Force recommendations and to bring forward amending legislation as soon as this review is complete.
The report's recommendations require action and engagement from a wide range of participants in our education system. For my part, as Minister, I have given a clear statement of my commitment to sustained and considered action in dealing with the issue of student behaviour.
At various levels within the schemes and programmes in place to tackle difficulties being experienced by schools, students and families there is cooperation and cross departmental activities to address issues created by wayward behaviour.
