Throughout the interviews respondents suggested changes that could be applied to improve the system of reducing and preventing absenteeism at primary school level. The general consensus was that the overall system should be reviewed
and evaluated and subsequently reformed. The PSS held a view that his experience and that of his colleagues should be captured and utilised to make the system more productive. In the course of our discussions he proposed that the maximum benefit possible is not being obtained from the system as there seems to be a disconnection between the DES, NEWB and the schools. There was recognition that it takes a reasonable amount of time to implement new systems, however, all those
interviewed agreed that sufficient time has passed and it is “at the stage now that it needs a review” (PSS). More specific recommendations referred to the
implementation of the Education (Welfare) Act (Government of Ireland, 2000) such as the methods of data collection and the age requirement of the legislation. The final recommendations focused on issues such as the responsibility and accountability of parents for ensuring their children attend school at primary level and promotion and information campaigns.
Reform o f the Data Collection Systems
It was strongly expressed that “there has to be a more efficient, tidier way” (PJS) in relation to agreeing one method of data collection that could ensure that “the statistics we keep for the school should be the same as the ones for the NEWB” (PJS). This refers to the “antiquated” (PJS) system of the roll book which each school Principal ensured was carefully filled in by the classroom teachers and available for inspection at any time by officials from the DES. The schools also summarised these figures and returned them to the DES in addition to reporting a different set of figures to the NEWB, with different deadline dates. The replacement of the current system by one that would allow for the “majority o f the analysis to be
done very easily on some sort of a database, centralised system” (PSS) was called for by all the interviewees. This included a recommendation for a “computerised” (SCP Local Coordinator) system that would ensure one input per student. There was recognition that such a new system would require “time, money, labour, people, all these things and systems that people have to be trained on” (SCP Local Coordinator). Referring to the economic crises at the moment and the unlikely commitment of funds to obtain this centralised system, one of the EWOs referred to “a utopian kind of a way would be if every school had a computerised attendance log in the morning that every pupil just swipes a card at the front door and that could even feed straight into the NEWB” (EWO 1). This could lead to “obviating the need then for the registers, for the returns, the school returns. The whole thing could be done and dusted there and then, every morning and every school day and every school year” (EWO 1).
The kind of categories that are used on the school return forms could also be streamlined according to the PSS. He explained that one of the categories (Appendix F) is a catch all for ‘other reasons’ that a pupil may have missed a day and includes “a list of maybe ten reasons” (PSS). As some of those explanations include specific reasons such as holidays he would suggest “taking it out of that and (I’d) put in a category of its own because it’s a problem now that a lot of children go on holidays inside of school time” (PSS). The other categories that require change, according to this Principal, are those that refer to urgent family reasons such as religious
observation and death of a student. He recommended “they sort of break this up a little bit, emigration should be put as holidays on its own” (PSS). His final
suggestion in this section was the need to reform the category that refers to the “transfer to another school, which should really be waiting on, rather than transfer to another school" (PSS). This might clarify that the school is waiting on the
notification of transfer and that the student no longer attends this school.
This proposal links to the suggestion that the figures might be more meaningful if they indicated more clearly the students that are no longer actually attending the school when attendance returns are sent in. This point connects with the suggestion made by one of the EWOs that the recording system should identify clearly the extreme situations of some students such as those that have not attended school for the majority of the year due to ongoing court and/or appeal proceedings, etc. If this information allowed the identification of students with chronic absenteeism, the response of the system might be more appropriate. In addition it might then be possible to arrive at attendance figures that are deemed by all as a more accurate reflection ofattendance in a specific school at a particular moment in time. In a related point the EWO 2 - Pilot suggested that another referral system should be adopted which would see a referral to the NEWB being accompanied by “a note of concern” and this then being “filtered through some sort of management system down to identify what are the critical cases” (EWO 2 Pilot). This was seen as a way of linking the EWO with the schools and working in an integrated way.
The PJS recommended that the legislation should be amended to apply to all children enrolled in school. This implies that children as young as four or five would be required to attend school on the same basis that currently apply to those over six years. This recommendation is underpinned by an understanding that early childhood
illness might be a mediating factor in some situations but that the EWO concerned could judge whether or not this was a situation that required intervention. The belief behind this point was that young children should not be allowed to slip under the radar and get off to a bad start in relation to their school attendance. The VTT agreed with this recommendation also and suggested that the age requirement be amended to five years. As mentioned above, all those interviewed indicated that attendance of children at primary level should be the responsibility of the parents. There were some specific recommendations in respect of parents’ accountability and potential
incentives.
Parents' Accountability and Incentives
Most of the interviewees were of the view that parents should be informed that there are consequences that come into play when they fail to send their children to school. The limitations to the present system of fines were explained by one of the EWOs:
The discussion that has often taken place is that if parents are not taking the responsibility to ensure that the child attends school the judge is quite limited in what he can impose, there might be probation, there might be a fine, fines have been quite limited so far, I think of one parent who had two children out, hadn’t been in school for years, there was a €50 fine. (EWO 2 -P ilot)
Within the context of minor fines and or short prison sentences, many
appropriate and could have better outcomes for children. Recommendations within this range included linking social welfare payments to school attendance and/or incentivising parents by offering a particular payment subject to school attendance. The general view was that the system should prioritise the rights of the child to attend school over the parents’ rights. There was also agreement that this could only happen when all the support services have been utilised and have been proven to be futile. The PSS recommended investigating the possibility of Social Workers being employed directly by schools and working beside teachers with the families to encourage attendance. The final area within the recommendations included information and promotional aspects of school attendance.
Information and Promotion o f School Attendance
The view that the NEWB might conduct its own reward system was suggested by one of the EWOs as the focus on “a nationwide basis for pupils who have
excellent attendance” (EWO 1) might promote the importance o f school attendance. He also said this could be approached through the provision of role models such as sport idols, etc. that would espouse the importance of attending school regularly, by “co-opting celebrities or something like that onto the campaign, a PR campaign, a nationwide stay in school campaign” (EWO 1). He was aware of similar programmes in US that have been very successful and have been operating for a number of years. This was viewed as a possible positive situation for all involved as by including people that “the young people can identify with” through a programme that is “not like endorsing a watch or a brand of aftershave” but rather “a feel good thing as well”(EWO 1), it might become very fashionable to be a good attendee. This latter
point can be linked with that mentioned earlier by the VTT and the importance of role models within the Traveller community. These recommendations will be integrated within the final chapter of the thesis which will focus on conclusions and recommendations for policy and practice. The next chapter discusses the findings from Phase 1 and 2 and how they integrate and connect with the literature and policy chapters.