Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 539: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she has taken to improve school attendance at both primary and second level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40667/06]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 541: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of staff dedicated to the operation of the Educational Welfare Board on a county basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40669/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 539 and 541 together.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department's Estimates for 2007 include a provision of €9.8 million for the National Educational Welfare Board. This represents an increase of 20% on the 2006 allocation and of 50% on the 2004 level.

This substantial increase in funding is a clear indication of this Government's commitment to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk. Through increased investment and improved services we are determined to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups.

The increase in funding for the Board will allow it to expand its services further and increase to staffing.

Since we formally launched the Board in December 2003, the number of staff has increased to 94. The Board operates through 5 regional teams, with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. A service is provided from 26 locations nationwide. Staff are deployed in areas of greatest disadvantage and in areas designated under the Government's RAPID programme. In addition, the Board follows up on urgent cases nationally where children are not currently receiving an education. Educational Welfare Officers monitor school attendance and work to improve it. They also help parents that are experiencing a difficulty with getting a school place for their child.

Since January 2004, 20,000 cases involving students with reported school attendance difficulties have been resolved by the Board. The NEWB has also written to every family with children of school going age advising them of their rights and responsibilities in relation to education and school attendance and where they can get help.

The first national data on school attendance has also been collected and is being used to inform the Board's work. In relation to the effectiveness of the service, it is encouraging to note research findings that attendance at school in the areas where EWOs are working intensively improved in 2004/05 compared with the previous year.

The Board is currently working on guidelines for schools on developing attendance strategies and the prevention of student absenteeism. Work is also advanced on guidelines for codes of behaviour.

So, while the NEWB was set up just three years ago, a lot has already been achieved by the service and the Government is committed to strengthening its role even further.

It should, however, be remembered that the Board is just one aspect of the comprehensive framework that this Government has put in place to improve school attendance and encourage more young people to finish school. In this regard, extra supports targeted at young people in disadvantaged areas include both educational initiatives such as intensive literacy programmes and services such as breakfast clubs and homework clubs.

In fact, in addition to the NEWB, there are currently some 490 staff within the education sector with a role in school attendance. Home School Community Liaison Coordinators, in working with parents, promote school attendance and its importance for success in school. School attendance is a central objective of School Completion Programme with attendance tracking a core feature and one of its preventative strategies. Access to these services is being increased under the new Action Plan for tackling educational disadvantage, DEIS.

In reply to the Deputy's specific question regarding the deployment of service delivery staff on a county basis, the NEWB is a independent statutory body and operational matters such as the deployment of staff are for the Board to decide upon.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 540: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she has taken or proposes to take to address the issue of wayward children who refuse to attend school or accept parental authority with obvious consequences in later life; the number of such cases examined to date by the Educational Welfare Board; the results of such examinations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40668/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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This government is determined to do all that is possible to ensure that every child gets all the opportunities and support they need to enable them to achieve their potential and participate fully in education. A key focus of the Government's education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and educational outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups.

DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new action plan for educational inclusion that I launched last year, will focus on addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school through second-level education (3 to 18 years). The plan represents a shift in emphasis away from individual initiatives, each addressing a particular aspect of the problem, with the new plan adopting a multifaceted and more integrated approach. This is the first time that an integrated educational inclusion strategy has been developed for 3–18 year olds in this country.

The key principle of early intervention underpins both the early childhood education measure and many of the literacy and numeracy measures being adopted under the new action plan. The plan will place a renewed emphasis on the involvement of parents and families in children's education in schools.

Implementation will be a phased basis over five years and will involve an additional annual investment of some €40m on full implementation. It will also involve the creation of about 300 additional posts across the education system generally.

A further measure designed to deal with absenteeism from school was the establishment of the National Educational Welfare Board, under the Education Welfare Act, 2002. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The Board has responsibility to monitor school attendance, assist parents with obtaining a school place for their child run promotional campaigns on the importance of attendance and finishing school and conducting research into the causes for and strategies to combat absenteeism.

The general functions of the NEWB are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The Board is developing a nationwide service that is accessible to schools, parents/ guardians and others concerned with the welfare of young people. For this purpose, Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) have been appointed and deployed throughout the country to provide a welfare-focused service to support regular school attendance and discharge the Board's functions locally.

The NEWB through their local EWO has involvement with the Garda Junior Liaison Scheme. There are regular and ongoing contacts made by way of referrals to the HSE where the EWO has concerns regarding the welfare or care of a child. There is also attendance and participation by EWOs at Child Care Conferences and meetings convened by the HSE.

The Board, appointed an expert group in November 2005 to draw up a discussion document on the guidelines for schools on developing Codes of Behaviour. The Guidelines will focus on how schools can deal progressively and inclusively with behavioural issues, thereby helping to support participation in education for all. Poor behaviour impacts on the learning and teaching environment in a school and valuable class time can be taken up managing it and can also be a barrier to good attendance and participation in school activities.

In addition to the NEWB there are some 490 staff, within the education sector, deployed in education disadvantage programmes. A further 137 additional posts will come into the system under the DEIS Initiative. The work of these personnel involves an element of school attendance and significant scope exists for integrated working with Educational Welfare Officers. My Department is anxious to ensure that the maximum benefit is derived from this deployment of resources. Consequently work is ongoing to develop appropriate protocols for all agencies and services to work together in collaboration and to ensure that optimum use is made of the resources deployed including NEWB resources.

Earlier this year, I launched "School Matters" the final Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools, and outlined a package of measures to tackle student behaviour issues and announced an implementation strategy following publication of "School Matters". That strategy is now well advanced.

The National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS), which was at the core of the recommendations of the Task Force, has now appointed a National Co-ordinator and four Assistant National Co-ordinators. In addition, nine Regional Development Officers and twenty part-time Associates have been recruited to ensure the success of this significant initiative. A key feature of the composition of the National Behaviour Support Service is the assignment to it of a senior psychologist and three psychologists. These have been seconded from the National Educational Psychological Service and their presence will ensure that the team operates in a multi-disciplinary way. A full-time administrator is based in Navan Education Centre.

Since their appointment, the team has been working on a number of key issues:

1. The development of a Draft National Framework for Behaviour Improvement.

2. The development of models of good practice for systems in schools which assist with and impact on classroom and whole school behaviour.

3. On-going training for the NBSS team.

4. Research into and communication with behaviour support systems in other jurisdictions.

The NBSS has commenced its engagement with schools and a series of information seminars have been organised throughout the country. Subsequently intensive work will begin with a smaller number of schools most in need of this intervention.

It is my intention that this new service will work intensively with those schools initially selected for inclusion in this development. I have already announced that part of this work will see us trialling the concept of a behaviour support classroom in up to 30 schools next year. I want to emphasise however that these classrooms cannot be, in themselves, a solution to the issue of poor student behaviour. They must be one part of a holistic response which should see a school, actively supported by the Behaviour Support Team, defining for itself a pathway to improvement.

In relation to the Task Force recommendations in respect of class size, I wish to draw the attention of the Deputy to the significant improvements that have been made in the pupil teacher ratio at post primary level in recent years. The ratio has fallen from 16:1 in the 1996/97 school year to 13.21:1 in the 2005/06 school year. The reduction in the ratio was achieved through the creation of 2,017 additional posts and the retention of over 2,100 posts which would otherwise have been lost due to the fall in enrolments. I should add that I have consistently ruled out the creation of additional teaching posts across the second level system as a response to the issue of poor student behaviour. On the contrary I see this issue as requiring focussed intervention along the lines now being pursued.

It terms of expenditure, funding has been provided to cover the costs of the NBSS recruitment process, staff training and development, staff salaries, establishment of an NBSS Office, development of an NBSS website and the information seminars with schools. At this stage, it is anticipated that the €2 million allocated in 2006 toward the implementation of the Task Force's recommendations will be fully expended by the end of the current financial year.

I wish to draw the attention of the Deputy to my announcement in the context of the 2007 Estimates, that I am providing €8 million to support the work of the NBSS, in helping schools promote positive student behaviour at second level.