Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2013
1106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she and her Department, in the study of issues affecting children and young people generally, have identified issues such as poor attendance at primary school level and subsequent dropout of education as a cause for inability to effectively compete in the jobs market; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17596/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is committed to evidence-based research and has a strong comprehensive research programme in place; this includes funded research and capacity building programmes, as well as a research infrastructure and dissemination programme. Flagship initiatives such as the Growing Up in Ireland Study are focused on securing good evidence on children’s and young people’s lives and outcomes, and should provide future opportunity to follow children’s lives from childhood to early adulthood and examine the factors that impact later outcomes.
The National Strategy for Research and Data on Children’s Lives 2011-2016 sets out a comprehensive action plan for research and data on children’s lives in Ireland and proposes a systematic, harmonised and coordinated approach across departments and agencies to achieve a better understanding of children’s lives including research actions so that children’s educational outcomes will be better understood.
School absenteeism is one of the strongest known risk factors associated with early school leaving and research confirms the enduring nature of the difficulties which arise from high levels of absenteeism and associated poor educational achievement.
There is a body of evidence on this from work carried out by the ESRI and others in the area of education research and early school leaving and its impact on access to employment and the risk of poverty. This evidence has informed a range of policy responses introduced by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Department of Education and Skills and others to promote school retention and support young people’s participation in education. The Department will explore areas for future research on issues related to youth employment in the context of the new Children’s and Young People’s Policy Framework, which is currently being developed by this Department.
Combating the issues underlying poor school attendance requires concerted action and close collaboration among schools, school support services and other stakeholders involved with children, young people and their families. My Department is committed to supporting the educational attainment of young people, in particular by targeting supports to young people from disadvantaged communities through a variety of formal and informal educational support services.
The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), which operates under the remit of my Department, has a mandate to ensure that ‘each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education’. The Board’s services, which include the Educational Welfare Service, the School Completion Programme and the Home School Community Liaison Scheme, operate within an integrated continuum of services to deliver a range of services from the universal and preventative activities up to more intensive interventions where required. The work of the Board is a key component of Delivering Equality of opportunity in Schools (DEIS), the Department of Education and Skills’ Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. The latest NEWB report of the Analysis of School Attendance Data shows that the percentage of student days lost through absence is running at just over 6% (or 11 school days per year) in primary schools and around 8% (or 13 school days per year) in post-primary schools. These figures continue to show a slight improvement in attendance over time since the introduction of this analysis by the NEWB.
While the overall improvement is to be welcomed the number of children who continue to miss school each day, in particular in areas of social and economic disadvantage, remains a concern. This is why we must maintain our focus and target resources effectively to secure further improvements in educational outcomes for children in at risk groups.
My Department’s youth work services and programmes also play an important role for young people who encounter difficulties with school attendance in that engagement in youth activities complements the formal learning in the school system. Each year over 380,000 young people participate in youth work services throughout the country. There is a growing recognition in Ireland and across Europe of the potential of youth work services to enhance learning and contribute to employability of young people and that it may have a particular role as part of a wider education, employment and enterprise strategy for those young people who are marginalised from more formalised systems of education and training. This priority theme is being explored further as part of the Ireland’s Youth Presidency Programme. I plan, as part of the Presidency programme, to host an expert round table event on quality youth work and its contribution to youth employment (20–21 June 2013, Kildare).
My Department continues to work closely with the Department of Education and Skills and other Government departments to ensure that policy is informed by the best available evidence and to ensure a consistent approach is taken to achieving our shared policy objectives for children and young peoples educational outcomes.
