My motion refers to the need for the Minister for Education and Science to investigate the reported instruction to schools by the National Educational Welfare Board to do nothing in relation to systems geared to reducing truancy. The Minister should come to the House to explain the reason for this instruction. I welcome the Minister of State to discuss this most important topic.
I am concerned by the lack of urgency the Government seems to attach to this matter. Few people would disagree that educational disadvantage, which we spoke about here last night, is one of the most important of the national problems we must tackle. Few would disagree that while many children enter the educational system already disadvantaged, the scope for them to emerge suffering from even more disadvantage is inextricably linked to school attendance. Whatever the shortcomings of the education we provide, a young person can derive no benefit from it if he or she does not attend school. Very often, non-attendance is the first sign that something is wrong. It may be the first indication that the education system is failing a particular child.
I remember well the debate in this House in 1999 on the Education (Welfare) Act. When introducing the legislation, the then Minister said it would effectively co-ordinate all services directed at children and families with truancy and poor school attendance records. That co-ordination was to involve the integration of early identification and intervention procedures into the normal work of schools. The Minister said it was his intention that a co-ordinated attendance system would operate on a number of levels ranging from general preventative work to more direct enforcement. What we were promised was streets ahead of the creaky, inadequate mechanism which had been in place for many years. It was small wonder that the Bill was generally welcomed in this House and elsewhere. In view of its importance, we had every reason to expect that, once enacted, its provisions would be implemented speedily to allow them to do some good.
Let us fast-forward to today and examine the current scenario. Incredibly, the new regime which was to be created by the Act is not in place in 2003. Even more unacceptable is the fact that nothing at all is in place, the previous mechanism having been allowed to lapse pending the arrival of the new one. I understand and appreciate that the delay in implementing the new system has its roots in an industrial dispute. While we all know how such disputes can drag on and on, the extent of the delay in this case goes far beyond the bounds of acceptability. There is a case to answer for allowing the existing system to die away entirely rather than maintaining it until the new system was ready to take over. This is having a real impact on very vulnerable young people, for many of whom there will be no way back from the way of life they have chosen to pursue.
My feeling that there is a lack of the necessary sense of urgency regarding this problem is strengthened by a recent newspaper report about the use of technology by schools to deal with truancy. I heard mention of this on the radio also. Some schools have experimented with a system which allows them to alert parents by means of a mobile phone text message if their child does not turn up at school. It seemed a brilliant idea to me and a forward looking and imaginative use of technology to address a very down-to-earth problem. I was very encouraged by the news, but I was less pleased recently to learn that the National Educational Welfare Board has instructed schools to refrain from having anything to do with systems like this. No doubt, the Minister of State will explain that this step was taken pending the board's investigation into the merits of the system, but the net effect will be a further delay in addressing the problem of truancy.
It tends to be forgotten that though the statistics for truancy remain pretty constant from year to year, the same young people are not involved. Starting to play truant is one step along the road to dropping out of school and to disengaging from the educational system. Once lost, a student is lost for good with dreadful consequences for his or her future life. There is a need for urgency, which is why I am very concerned by the apparent lack of urgency I see.