Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 January 2010
1040 Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Minister for Education and Science if the National Education Welfare Board has received correspondence (details supplied) about children failing to attend school; the action the NEWB is taking in this particular community to tackle this problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1013/10]
View answerThe National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was established under The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 as the statutory body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework which promotes regular school attendance and tackles the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the Board are to ensure that every child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education.
In May 2009, I announced plans for the integration of educational services under the remit of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) with effect from the 1st September 2009. The integration brings together the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL), the School Completion Programme (SCP) and the Visiting Teacher Service for Travellers (VTST) as well as the National Educational Welfare Service under one common management team thereby providing for a single, more focused, strategic direction to tackle attendance, participation and retention at local, regional and national levels reflecting equally the nature and strength of each of the services.
The Board has a full time Educational Welfare Officer addressing school attendance issues for all schools on the Northside of Limerick City. The EWO works as part of a local team and in collaboration with a number of agencies in the area including; SCP, HSCL, VTST, Health Services Executive, the Gardaí, and local Youth Initiatives. Visiting families in their homes to offer advice and assistance is one of the primary forms of intervention of the NEWB. The Moyross area of Limerick is designated under the Limerick Regeneration Programme. The EWO is also involved in a number of local initiative addressing educational disadvantage. These include the following:
Moyross based weekly NEWB advice and support clinic
Member of Northside Youth Forum (targeting young people at risk)
Active Member of University of Limerick School based programme — St Nessans Community College.
Active Member of Regeneration schools groups
The NEWB has advised that it received the correspondence, referred to by the Deputy, in December 2009. The correspondent expressed concerns about local children who were allegedly involved in anti social behaviour and who were allegedly out of the education system. The NEWB together with other agencies in Limerick is following up on the educational welfare concerns raised in the correspondence. The Board also informed me that in its response it advised the correspondent that issues of anti-social behaviour should be referred to the appropriate authorities.
