Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 1997

Vol. 480 No. 6

Written Answers - Primary School Roll Books.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

568 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education the plans, if any, he has to assess the need for primary school principals to correlate all the details required by the traditional roll books in use in each school and to update the ways in which necessary information is collected; and if he will report on the usefulness of this information in view of the fact that it is seldom checked in many national schools and seems to be of little use in the overall administration of schools or indeed the wider education system. [14412/97]

Minister for Education (Mr. Martin):

For both pupils and schools, roll books constitute a historically important record of pupils' names, dates of birth, dates of enrolment, addresses, class divisions, attendances and absences. It is the responsibility of the principal teacher to ensure that the information contained in the roll books is accurate. The cross-checking and correlation of data entered on pupils' attendances and absences form an essential part of this process. While the principal carries ultimate responsibility, this task may be delegated to the vice-principal or to holders of posts of responsibility.

In addition to its historical importance, the information recorded in school roll books is crucial to the administration not only of each individual school but also of the system as a whole. In the case of each individual school, among the matters which are determined on the basis of the information contained in roll books are the school staffing, capitation grants, principal's allowances, posts of responsibilty, maintenance grants, accommodation needs and future planning, transport services and special needs provision. The availability of this information is obviously of crucial importance also to the administration of the system at a national level. While I am conscious of the need to minimise the additional duties imposed on principals, in light of the value of the information provided, I have no plans at the moment to alter the need for primary school principals to correlate all the details required by the traditional roll books in use in each school.