Data compiled by Tusla reveals a significant rise in student absenteeism, with substantial numbers of both primary and post-primary students missing school on a regular basis, a development Minister for Education, Helen McEntee, has described as “hugely alarming”.
These figures, for the 2022/23 school year, are derived from school attendance records, which are reported by schools to the Tusla Education Support Service, the agency currently responsible for monitoring school attendance under the Educational Welfare Act.
Each year, Tusla publishes a comprehensive report detailing attendance trends across the primary and post-primary sectors. Although this process continued during the Covid-19 pandemic, data from the 2019–2022 period are considered anomalous due to the exceptional circumstances.
As such, the 2022–2023 figures are best compared with those from the most recent pre-pandemic year, 2018–2019, to assess the scale and implications of the current attendance challenges.
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Each annual report contains extensive data, but in this short piece we will concentrate on just a few statistics.
Our main focus is on those who missed more than 20 school days in a given school year (182 days at primary, 166 at post-primary). The term used for this pattern of attendance in international research is “chronic absenteeism”.
To take post-primary students, for example, in 2018/19 a total of 14.5 per cent were recorded in the chronic absentee category. However, in 2022/23, the figure was eight percentage points higher, at 23.2 per cent. The increase was even more pronounced at primary level. Clearly, then, the Covid experience has influenced attitudes toward school attendance, among students, their families, and possibly within wider communities.
High levels of absenteeism are not only a symptom of educational disadvantage but also a contributor to it. Teacher morale is also negatively impacted
This suggests the possible existence of a “Covid effect”, whether long-lasting or otherwise. In advance of writing this article, we contacted Tusla to request school attendance data for 2023/24, including lodging an FOI request, which was refused. If, as seems likely, Covid has compounded an already significant problem in relation to chronic absenteeism, then surely the sooner this is acknowledged and acted upon, the better.
Aside from any Covid effect, school absenteeism is a complex problem. For the young child, the most immediate and influential environment is typically that provided by their parents and the broader family context. Early research largely attributed absenteeism to family-related factors; however, it was soon acknowledged that other influences, including peers and school culture, were also contributing factors.
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Broader societal factors can also exert a significant influence. Although parents are primary determinants of a child’s school attendance, the State also plays a significant role, through the structure of the education system, the relevance of the curriculum, and the adequacy of resources made available to schools to support student needs.
More recent research has increasingly highlighted additional factors such as student wellbeing, lifestyle, sleep patterns, and the influence of social media. Illness remains the leading cause of school absences and is often viewed as an unavoidable aspect of school life. However, emerging evidence in recent years suggests that environmental factors, such as poor air quality and inadequate ventilation within school buildings, may be contributing factors to increased rates of student absenteeism.
In Ireland, as elsewhere, the problem of school absenteeism is far more pervasive in schools serving deprived areas. Thus, when the overall figure of 23.2 per cent of post-primary students in the “chronic absentee” category for 2022/23 was further analysed, it emerged that in non-Deis schools the figure was 19.5 per cent, compared to 30.7 per cent in the case of Deis.
The impact of poor attendance patterns occurs at a number of levels. We know that irregular attendance at school, either chronic or close to that threshold, can have a lifelong impact on the individuals involved under various headings, including educational outcomes and career prospects.
Aside from the students themselves, absenteeism at significant levels inevitably impacts upon those who attend school regularly. Consider the notional case of a student attending a Deis post-primary school where, on average, in excess of a quarter of their classmates is absent on any given day. Inevitably, the rhythm of the teaching process is disrupted, to the disadvantage of the entire class. Thus, high levels of absenteeism are not only a symptom of educational disadvantage but also a contributor to it. Teacher morale is also negatively impacted.
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Moreover, high absenteeism affects the overall functioning of the school as an institution. Consider a notional Deis post-primary school of 650 students. If its chronic absentee level is the national average for such schools, that amounts to 200 students. In such a school, the principal and several staff members dedicate a significant part of their working week to managing and responding to attendance problems.
Of course, a school will explore all possible remedial actions in relation to absenteeism of individual students, whether chronic or otherwise. In many cases, the issues that arise extend well beyond the expertise and, indeed, the professional qualifications, of school personnel. If the problem persists, a principal can make a referral to the Educational Welfare Service in Tusla’s Education Support Service.
Dr Brian Fleming and Prof Judith Harford are based at UCD’s School of Education
