Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 1495: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the evaluations that have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of the National Education Welfare Board in improving attendance at school since the formation of that board; and the costs incurred since their formation. [1193/09]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Education (Welfare) Act 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) as the national body with responsibility for school attendance. The general functions of the Board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education.

The overall development and ongoing performance of the Board is kept under review by my Department. The Board publishes educational welfare service activity data including caseloads, prosecutions and numbers of children registered as being educated outside of school in its Annual Report. The Board's service has developed incrementally and the Board now has a total of 109 posts. Of the 109 posts, 90 are involved in the delivery of services to children, families and schools. The Board operates through 5 Regional Teams at 30 locations nationwide. The budget allocation to the Board has also followed this incremental trend:

The Board's network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) is the key means by which the Board delivers on its statutory remit to ensure that each child attends and benefits from education. EWOs deal with approximately 10,000 cases, involving children with reported school attendance difficulties, per annum. Officers work closely with the family, the school and other support services to address the particular issues for each child.

The NEWB is 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. Home School Community Liaison Coordinators (HSCL) through their work with parents, promote school attendance and its importance for success in school. School attendance is a central objective of the School Completion Programme (SCP) with attendance tracking a core feature and one of its preventative strategies. Access to these services is available to all schools participating in DEIS. In line with Department policy on closer integration of support services the NEWB is working with these programmes to improve the delivery of service to address school attendance. This approach aims to ensure that optimum use is made of the resources deployed.

In line with Government policy the Board prioritises its resources to support the most disadvantaged areas and schools participating in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the Action Plan for educational inclusion. EWOs provide an intensive service in these areas. Outside of these areas, priority is given to children who are out of school or who have significant difficulties with school attendance.

Interventions designed to tackle the underlying causes of poor attendance at school by necessity are long term measures. DEIS has been designed as the long term plan for educational inclusion in the most disadvantaged areas. The Department has commissioned the Educational Research Centre (ERC) to conduct an independent evaluation of DEIS over the period of the action plan to 2010. This evaluation is aiming to monitor the effectiveness of the programme (and its various elements) and assess its impact on students, families, schools, and communities at primary and post-primary levels. The thrust of the evaluation is systemic in the sense that it is designed to inform policy making on the role that initiatives like DEIS can play in addressing educational disadvantage, promoting social inclusion and to identify models of good practice in the application of resources and supports.