John Stafford
Ceist:178 Mr. Stafford asked the Minister for Education the current absenteeism levels from school, and the procedures which are in place to alleviate the problem.
Written Answers. - School Absenteeism.
The School Attendance Act requires children between the ages of six and 15 years to attend school.
The designated authorities for enforcement of the School Attendance Act in the county boroughs of Dublin, Dún Laoghaire, Cork and Waterford are school attendance committees, which are statutory local authorities, and elsewhere the Garda Síochána.
Figures in relation to absenteeism are made available by the schools directly to the enforcement authorities.
Problems in relation to absenteeism tend to occur in certain disadvantaged areas and those are being addressed in the context,inter alia, of the home-school liaison programme for such areas. Any additional measures required will be determined as part of the current review of the operation of the School Attendance Act.