School Attendance

90. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the way in which she plans to respond to recent school attendance data; and the supports and training her Department has in place for school leaders, home school community liaisons, HSCLs, teachers and SNAs regarding emotionally based school non-attendance, EBSNA. [74815/26]

I thank the Deputy. School attendance is a key priority for the Minister for Education and Youth and me, and across government. Regular attendance is fundamental to educational achievement, well-being and personal development. It provides children and young people with the opportunity to learn, build friendships, develop confidence, and achieve and feel a sense of belonging within their school community. Too many children and young people across Ireland are missing a concerning number of school days each year due to casual or persistent non-attendance. The latest data published by the Tusla education support service, TESS, in September 2026, relating to the 2024-25 school year, shows that one in five of our children and young people is absent from school for more than 20 days a year. A day missed here and a day missed there can quickly accumulate over the course of a school year. As those days add up, so too does the risk that a child will fall behind in their learning, become disconnected from school life and from their friends, and miss out on those vital opportunities school provides every day. TESS has been under the remit of the Department since 1 January 2021. It operates under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands, including the statutory educational welfare service. The primary role of the educational welfare service is to ensure that every child either attends school regularly or otherwise receives a certain minimum education, to ensure and secure every child’s entitlement to education. In 2023, TESS launched a five-year plan to improve school attendance. This plan focuses on policy, practice, implementation of the Anseo model, that is, the multidimensional multitiered system of supports, and the expansion of TESS services to schools and families, employing innovative ways to meet the needs of vulnerable learners.

This is a major issue in education. We hear lots about how much the Government is spending on education and the international measures of outcomes and performance, but huge and increasing numbers of children are being failed by the education system. I wonder about some of the response to school absenteeism in posters and radio advertisements. It feels like a government that does not adequately understand the issue and the drivers behind non-attendance. I am also concerned about the language. It does not use the terminology of emotionally based school non-attendance and absenteeism. Is there a commitment to roll out Anseo to all schools? It is another pilot but it needs to be expanded if the Government is to take direct and meaningful action on this.

I assure the Deputy that the Government, the Minister and I are acutely aware of the challenges in terms of school absenteeism. The report that was recently launched is hugely important because while the various metrics used by the Department of education on the level of education being provided in this country are very positive, we must also make sure that we are reaching everybody. Having students and children in school and getting a full education leads to better outcomes for their lives as well. That has been documented right across the board. We very much understand that. The success of the Anseo model is being evaluated and looked at to see how we are going to roll it out. I have had various engagements on this with the school communities, as I am sure the Minister has too. Even yesterday with a number of schools with which we were engaging, they talked about the level to which they go to encourage students and young people to attend school. We understand the importance of it.

In the first instance, I call on the Minister of State to expand Anseo to all DEIS schools. There is a major issue in DEIS schools. I have heard from parents and school leaders that some of the advertising on this is specifically targeted at casual non-attendance. For parents and families who are dealing with something far more significant than that, it has landed completely wrongly. To them it feels like the Government does not understand what they are dealing with daily. We need to address those issues. The training on a lot of this for school leaders is webinar-based and outside of the school day. This means the take-up rate is not anywhere near what it could be. Will the Minister of State look at that to ensure that as wide an audience as possible can avail of the training?

A huge amount of work is being done by school leaders to understand the challenge and how best they can meet it daily. The school leadership is looking at it. They know their students and the ones who have been absent for several days and the issues they have. I have heard from school community leaders about the level to which they go to ensure that people are coming to school and what issues are causing school avoidance and so forth. The Anseo model has been very effective. It is hugely important that we evaluate that properly. There is a huge uptake from school leadership in terms of the information we are providing, but that information must be provided in a meaningful way so that we can target a lot of vulnerable people and keep them in school for as long as possible because if do, we will have fewer problems for society down the line.