Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 June 2004
233 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of children in receipt of an education at primary and at second level, respectively, in a place other than at a recognised school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19560/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe arrangements for monitoring education provided in places other than recognised schools are contained in the Education (Welfare) Act 2000. The National Educational Welfare Board was established to implement the provisions of the Act. The NEWB is currently implementing a system of registration for children being educated at home or who attend non-recognised schools.
No definitive information is available to the Department at present on the numbers involved. However, initial estimates have been made that between 300 and 500 families may be educating their children at home. In addition, the latest published data in my Department's annual statistical report indicates that the numbers of students attending non-aided primary and post-primary schools are 6,400 and 2,700 respectively.
234 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of young persons registered by the National Educational Welfare Board in the register of young persons in employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19561/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, any young person aged 16 or 17 who wishes to leave school to enter employment must apply to the National Educational Welfare Board to have their name included in a special new register. The purpose of the register is to safeguard the educational welfare of young people who leave school early to take up employment.
Prior to registration, the board will prepare a plan in consultation with the young person and other relevant parties for the purpose of assisting him or her to continue to avail of educational and training opportunities. When the young person is registered, a certificate is issued to him or her by the board. An employer must inspect this certificate before employing the young person. The certificate may be withdrawn where the board forms the opinion that the young person is failing to make all reasonable efforts to carry out the education plan prepared for him or her and that it would not be in the young person's best interests to continue in employment without also continuing to carry out the plan. The board is obliged to give notice in writing to the young person, his or her parents and his or her employer of its intention to withdraw the certificate and to invite them to make representations to the board concerning the matter. I am informed by the board that a number of expressions of interest in the register has been received and are being followed up. No names have been entered on the register to date.
235 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of scheme attendance notices issued by the National Educational Welfare Board since its establishment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19562/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Education (Welfare) Act 2000 became fully operational with effect from 5 July 2002. The Act provides for the repeal of the previous school attendance legislation under which responsibility for the enforcement of school attendance rested with four local authorities in the cities of Dublin, Cork and Waterford and with the Garda for the remainder of the country.
Under the Act, the National Educational Welfare Board was established to ensure that every child attends school regularly or otherwise receives an education. At this stage of its development, the aim of the board is to provide a service to the most disadvantaged areas and most at-risk groups. Five regional teams have now been established with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford and staff have been deployed since early December in areas of greatest disadvantage and in areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme. A total of 13 towns with significant school going populations, 12 of which are designated under the Government's RAPID programme, also now have an educational welfare officer allocated to them. These towns are Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Athlone, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Bray, Clonmel, Tralee, Ennis, Sligo and Letterkenny. In addition, the board follows up on urgent cases nationally where children are not currently receiving an education.
The Act provides that a parent may be prosecuted where the board forms the opinion that he or she is failing in his or her duty towards a child's education. This is a step of last resort after every possible step to improve attendance has been taken and where the board feels that a prosecution will bring about change.
My Department has been informed by the board that there have been no scheme attendance notices issued since its establishment. However, the practice and procedures for issuing such notices are being developed by the board at present and it is intended that they will be in place from the commencement of the next school year.
236 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of students expelled from primary and second level schools in the school year 2003-04; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19563/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Educational Welfare Board has issued its first annual attendance report questionnaire to all schools. In the questionnaire schools are asked to state the number of students expelled in the school year 2003-04. Post-primary schools have been asked to submit their returns by 30 June and primary schools have until 16 July to reply.
Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 provides for an appeal to the Secretary General of my Department where a board of management of a school or a person acting on behalf of the board refuses to enroll a student, suspends a student for a cumulative total of more than 20 days in an academic year or expels a student from the school. In the calendar year 2003, there were 34 appeals against expulsion in the post-primary sector and one in the primary sector. To date in 2004 there have been 28 appeals against expulsion in the post-primary sector and one in the primary sector. The number of appeals taken in any year does not necessarily reflect the total number of expulsions in that year as some parents may choose not to appeal the decision.
237 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science if all sections of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 are being implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19564/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraAll sections of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 came into operation on 5 July 2002. The Act provides a comprehensive framework for promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. It also established the National Educational Welfare Board on a statutory basis as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The general functions of the board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education.
To discharge its responsibilities, 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, are being 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 board has appointed a chief executive officer, directors of corporate services and educational welfare services and a management team of eight staff. To date, 62 educational welfare officers have been appointed. I understand that the board will shortly be making a further EWO appointment which will bring the service delivery staff to its authorised complement of 63 service delivery staff.
At this stage of its development, the aim of the board is to provide a service to the most disadvantaged areas, including areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme and most at-risk groups. Five regional teams have now been established with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford and an educational welfare service is now available, for the first time, in the cities of Limerick, Galway and Kilkenny. A total of 12 towns with significant school going populations, 11 of which are designated under the Government's RAPID programme, also now have an educational welfare officer allocated to them. These towns are Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Athlone, Carlow, Wexford, Bray, Clonmel, Tralee, Ennis, Sligo and Letterkenny. In addition, the board will follow up on urgent cases nationally.
The board has also moved to provide a service to families who decide to have their children educated in places other than in recognised schools. A small number of people with the appropriate skills have been allocated to this work and assessments will commence shortly. My Department has recently issued guidelines to assist the board in meeting its responsibilities in this area. An information leaflet and an application form have issued to families who are educating their children at home. Work is also proceeding on the establishment of the register for 16 and 17 year olds who leave school to enter employment.
The board has recently written to all primary and post primary schools requesting an annual attendance report for the school year 2003-04 which will provide comprehensive data on the levels of non-attendance by pupils. The data are essential for the planning of the future development of the national educational welfare service and for the development of services-programmes designed to prevent non-attendance. My Department will examine any recommendations and advice on school attendance and early school leaving received from the NEWB following an analysis of the annual attendance data.
