Madam, – INTO general secretary John Carr referred to the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) as a “Data Collection Agency” – a reference to the perceived lack of action taken on the reported absenteeism data sent to the NEWB (April 13th, page one).
While absenteeism figures are not encouraging, the true reason for the lack of concerted action is that the NEWB has been financially strapped from birth and has a limited number of educational welfare officers, about a third of the number required to effectively carry out its duties.
This will continue until the Minister, Batt O’Keeffe, allocates adequate resources to this “independent statutory body”, which currently is unable to effectively carry out its full legal remit due to the continuous financial stranglehold .
Also featuring on page one is the headline: “175 surplus teachers cost State more than €11 million”.
The NEWB budget for 2009 is €10 million. The Minister needs to review the priorities in departmental spending to ensure that the NEWB can make an impact on absenteeism now and act to prevent early school leaving. Not to do so would store up problems for our young people and society into the future – which is already looking quite bleak. Invest now or pay later! – Yours etc,
JOHN FLANAGAN,
Ardcollum Avenue,
Artane,
Dublin 5.