20 March 2003
NEWB Will More than Double Service Delivery Staff in 2003

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the single national body with responsibility for encouraging and supporting regular school attendance, today outlined that it expected to have up to 90 Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) working with children, parents and teachers throughout the country by the end of 2003. The NEWB was established under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000.

When fully established, it is expected that there will be up to 300 EWOs in place, a ten-fold increase on the numbers provided for under the old school attendance legislation. These staff will be recruited on a phased basis. Under the old legislation, there were just 36 school attendance officers working in three urban areas only, Dublin, Cork and Waterford. While there was some unofficial industrial action surrounding the transfer of these school attendance officers to the new Board, this has been resolved and these 36 are now operating fully. They will be complemented by up to 50 new Educational Welfare Officers by the end of this year, half of which will be recruited before the summer holidays. The remaining half will be recruited later this year.

In addition to allowing for vastly increased staff numbers, the Education (Welfare) Act is a progressive departure in school legislation, according to NEWB Chief Executive Eddie Ward. It raises the school leaving age from 15 to 16, or the completion of three years of post-primary education whichever comes later. It provides for a register of children receiving education outside the recognised school structure and it makes specific provision for the continued education and training of young people, aged 16 and 17, who leave school early to take up employment.

"Most importantly the Act, and the new Board, focuses first and foremost on the overall welfare of children, with mechanisms to ensure that the wider issues surrounding absenteeism are caught before school attendance reaches crisis point," he explained. "The old school attendance legislation, which was over 75 years old, was prosecution focused, retrospective and did nothing towards getting to the root of the problem."

The Educational Welfare Board is also actively recruiting executive and administrative staff and is now in a position to answer all correspondence received from schools.

The Board will operate on a regional basis with plans for five regional teams this year. Further regional teams will be established as more staff are appointed in 2004 and subsequent years. During this development phase, the new service will focus on ensuring that the most vulnerable children are provided for first. Children who are not in receipt of an education, areas with high levels of disadvantage and areas which had a school attendance service under the previous legislation will receive priority.

"With this decentralised structure, Educational Welfare Officers can be fully supported within their own area," explained Eddie Ward. "It is well known that educational issues and concerns vary from region to region. With our proposed regional structure, the needs of children most at risk can be dealt with locally and immediately."

The NEWB recently disseminated a letter to all schools in the country outlining its plans. These include the development of a Strategic Plan in co-operation with all education partners and the development of National Guidelines for schools on a range of issues surrounding school attendance. The Board will also be working towards the development of a standard system for recording school attendances and reporting absences. It will also develop a new, computerised national tracking system for children.

For more information contact: Edel Hackett, Tel: 087-2935207/098-50218.