Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)

I thank the Senator for her passionate plea this morning on this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy McEntee. Reduced school days, RSD, is a transitionary arrangement which should only be put in place in exceptional circumstances and for very limited and time-bound circumstances and only with the consent of the parent or the guardian. It is designed to assist the student to attend for some part of the school day along with his or her peers where it is not possible at a point in time for them to attend in a full-time capacity. The use of reduced school days can, if used appropriately, be a positive intervention which has the intention of assisting a student to return to full-time attendance, such as supporting a student to return to school after a period of absence due to a medical or mental health-related condition or due to other exceptional circumstances. It is based on the needs of the individual student.

The number of children on a reduced school day in the past school year was 1,275, or 0.13% of the student population. This increased by 22% from 1,044, or 0.11% of the student population, in 2022-2023. The main reason for the increase is likely to be the increased awareness in schools of the requirement to report the activation of a reduced school day. Of the total Traveller and Roma enrolments in the school population, 87 or 0.6% were placed on the reduced school day for part of the school year.This represents a 10% decrease on the numbers reported to be on the RSD from the Traveller or Roma communities for the 2022-23 school year. The monitoring and use of RSD is a key action in the Traveller and Roma education strategy, TRES, which was published in July 2024, alongside the plan for implementation and action for 2024 to 2026. This strategy is specifically developed to meet the needs of the children, young people and adults from the Traveller and Roma communities with the aim of enhancing their education experience and success.

Under the first two-year implementation plan, two national Traveller and Roma education strategy co-ordinators have been appointed to support the implementation of actions within the strategy. Funding has also been secured to establish 15 community link workers to support Traveller and Roma children and young people and those most at risk of educational disadvantage. It is envisaged that these workers will be appointed during quarter 2 of 2025. In addition to the TRES, other supports include ten home school community liaison, HSCL, co-ordinators, serving 14 non-DEIS post-primary schools which have a high number of Traveller and Roma students, and which aim to improve school attendance, participation and school completion. In the past year, the Department has worked with the TESS and the NCSE to introduce a data-sharing agreement which enables TESS to advise the NCSE directly where a child with special educational needs begins a reduced school day.

The Department's inspectors and the NEPS psychologists sometimes raise the use of reduced school days during their meetings or inspections in school. The inspectorate also conduct dedicated inspections in schools with high numbers of children from Traveller and Roma backgrounds. These inspections have a specific focus on attendance, use of reduced school day and literacy for Traveller and Roma children and young people. The NCSE SENOs work collaboratively with TUSLA educational welfare officers at a local level where appropriate to ensure all necessary supports are available to students with special educational needs who are out of school. Both TESS and the NCSE in conjunction with the Department are monitoring the situation to ensure the effective operation of the RSD scheme, and to provide the best outcomes for students, schools and parents.