Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The school completion programme aims to retain young people in the formal education system to completion of senior cycle and to improve children’s participation and attendance in school. In 2013, €26.456 million in funding has been allocated to this programme. The programme comprises 124 projects throughout the country. It is managed and directed by the National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, and funding is administered by my Department. It is intended to undertake a review of the programme in 2013. The review will address the potential to promote outcomes within available resources through greater consistency and efficiency in the administration and delivery of the programme. The review will be undertaken in conjunction with the NEWB and in consultation with the Department of Education and Skills.

The findings of the review will also inform the NEWB’s ongoing work to implement an integrated national approach to educational support services to enhance children’s attendance, participation and retention in schools. This approach incorporates the co-ordination of the board’s responsibilities in the three areas of the school completion programme, home school community liaison service and education welfare service.

Next year will also see the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency and incorporation of the education welfare services operated by the NEWB within a broader and more comprehensive range of supports to children and families.

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