01 December 2003
Six cities and 12 towns get new Educational Welfare Service

From December 1st, six cities and 12 towns will have an intensive educational welfare service to work with schools and families to ensure that children attend school regularly. This is a significant development for the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the agency set up to encourage and support school attendance. Previously there was a school attendance service in city areas only.

This announcement was made by the Minister for Education & Science, Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D., who was guest of honour at the inauguration of the NEWB’s new national service and the opening of its new Dublin service offices at Green Street in Dublin 1.

In total, 73 Educational Welfare staff - up from 37 - will be available to schools in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Limerick and Galway. Critically, this the first time Limerick and Galway will have an attendance service. Up to now the corporation areas of Dublin, Cork and Waterford were the only locations with a service. In addition, for the first time, there will be Educational Welfare Officers in Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan, Athlone, Carlow, Wexford, Bray, Clonmel, Tralee, Ennis, Sligo and Letterkenny.

These cities and towns have been prioritised because they are designated as educationally disadvantaged and have significant school going populations. This is in keeping with the Board’s aim to provide an intensive service to the country’s most disadvantaged areas and most at risk children first, as part of its development plan. In addition, the Board will follow up on urgent cases nationally where children are not receiving an education.

Dr Ann Louise Gilligan, Chairperson of the NEWB, said that it was particularly important that Ireland had an infrastructure for tackling school attendance and education disadvantage given that recent research by the ESRI had indicated that, with our economic reform, those who did not succeed in education had a greater prospect of a life of poverty and deteriorating life chances than in any other country in Europe.

She stressed that Ireland’s record on early school leaving and educational disadvantage represented a challenge to all citizens, not just those working with children and their families.

“Educational disadvantage needs to be seen for what it is, as a systemic and a moral issue,” she said. “Unless all citizens are going to claim responsibility for education disadvantage we are never going to change it. That means that those who have benefited most from the education system need to be aware that not everyone is so fortunate. The business man or the multi-national which benefits from low-paid early school leavers on a production line needs to think again about who he is employing. Will it cost him money in the long run? And more importantly, what will the cost be to the young workers over their lifetime? If we don’t concentrate on educating the most vulnerable in society, we will not develop into a mature, responsible society.”

Eddie Ward, Chief Executive Officer of the NEWB, outlined that over the coming years, additional towns and cities would be allocated Educational Welfare Officers in accordance with the resources provided. The expansion of the service will be largely determined by the first comprehensive data of school attendance nationally, which is expected to become available from next summer. In addition, Eddie Ward said that the first assessments of education provided in places other than in recognised schools (e.g. home or private schools), another key function of the NEWB, would be commencing immediately.

Targeting School Attendance – the facts

• 73 educational welfare staff – up from 37.
• 6 cities and 12 towns allocated EWOs – up from 3 city corporation areas.
• Urgent cases will be followed up nationally.
• The NEWB supports the country’s most vulnerable children – those out of school, homeless children, children from homes with no tradition of education and children with disabilities and special education needs,.
• 15% of young people leave school without a Leaving Certificate and 3% with no qualification at all – that’s nearly one in five.
• Up to 1,000 children don’t make it to secondary school.
• 3 out of 4 prisoners had poor attendance at school and about 40% left school before age 14. (Morgan, Kett, 2003)
• More than 500,000 workers do not have a Leaving Certificate, 220,000 have no 2nd level qualification and 295,000 have the Junior Certificate or its predecessors (Irish Labour Market Review, 2003)
• Savings of at least €14 million a year on unemployment costs, crime etc., could be made if young people could be prevented from dropping out of school before their Junior Cert. (ESRI, 2003)

For more information contact: Edel Hackett, 087-2935207