A nationwide multimedia campaign has been launched to promote regular school attendance in all counties across Ireland.
The campaign launch – held by Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) in partnership with Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McEntee – comes as new data from TESS shows that nationally, more than one in five children and young people at primary and post-primary level miss more than 20 days of their school year. Children and young people in Cork are missing a concerning number of school days each year.
The latest TESS Annual Attendance Report and Student Absence Report for the 2023/24 school year, published on the Tusla website, also show that while absenteeism remains high, total days lost and chronic absenteeism have both fallen for the second consecutive year.
In Cork, the data shows that the number of days lost by students at primary level represents 7.7% of the total school days in the 2023/24 school year; the figure for Limerick is 7.5%, Tipperary 8.4% and in Waterford, 7.6%. While at post-primary level, the number of days lost by students in Cork represents 11.8% days of the total school days in the 2023/24 school year; across other counties, Limerick is 9.7%, Tipperary 9.0% and in Waterford 11.8%.
NATIONALLY
Nationally, at primary school level, the data shows that the number of days lost by students has decreased from 8,689,829 in the 2021/22 school year to 6,247,325 in the 2023/24 school year. This represents 8% of the total school days in the 2023/24 school year. 8.6% of total days were lost in the 2022/23 school year.
And at post-primary schools, the total number of days lost has risen for the second consecutive year to 6,029,243 from 5,569,447 in the 2022/23 school year, but this increase is largely accounted for by the increase of 24,000 students in the total post-primary student population. The total days lost in the 2023/24 school year represents 11.3% of total school days. 11.4% of total days were lost in the 2022/23 school year.
CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM
The data published on Friday has shown that there has been a reduction in the level of chronic absenteeism (20+ days missed) in schools, but that levels are still higher than pre-pandemic figures. Minister McEntee said that while the reduction in the total number of days lost was positive, the level of absenteeism in schools remained far too high.
Nationally, for the 2023/24 school year, 94,501 (22.1%) of students in primary missed more than 20 days, down from 110,151 (25.1%) in the 2022/23 school year. While at post-primary schools, 67,612 (21.2%) of students lost 20+ days in the 2023/24 school year, up from 65,883 (22.3%) in the 2022/23 school year.
In Cork, 19.9% of students in primary school missed 20 days or more in the 2023/24 school year; this figure reaches 22.2% in Tipperary, 20.7% in Waterford and 20% in Limerick
At post-primary schools, 21.1% of students in Cork missed 20 days or more in the 2023/24 school year. For Waterford, that figure rises to a notably high 24.9%, while in Limerick it’s 19.3% and 18.7% in Tipperary.
CONSISTENT ATTENDANCE
The new multi-platform campaign, seeks to help address absenteeism by encouraging everyone involved in the lives of children and young people – including parents, guardians, teachers, and communities – to support and prioritise regular school attendance.
Áine O’Keeffe, Director of TESS, said: “Increasing school attendance is the key function of TESS. We are very excited to launch, together with Minister McEntee, a new national multimedia campaign aimed at raising awareness around the often-underestimated impact of missed school days here and there.
“The campaign aims to raise awareness about how many school days are being missed, and how those missed days can add up quickly over time. Importantly, it also shows parents, guardians, and schools where they can find more information and support to help improve and promote school attendance.”
When students miss school, they miss out, not only on learning, but also on valuable time with friends and teachers. This campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of consistent school attendance and encourage positive behaviour change.
Regular school attendance is essential not just for academic achievement, but also for wellbeing, social development and long-term life outcomes. When a child or young person can go to school, they should go to school. Every school day is a new day and a new opportunity for everyone to actively encourage school attendance.
Visit gov.ie/SchoolAttendance for more information and support.
