Limerick truancy figures ‘far too high’, says minister

A TOTAL of 20% of children in Limerick primary schools missed 20 days or more of their school days last year.

In addition, 19.3% of post-primary students missed at least 20 days in the 2023/24 school year.

These figures were released by Tusla’s Education Support Service (TESS) as part of its latest attendance report. The data accompanies a new nationwide campaign, launched in partnership with Minister for Education, Helen McEntee, to improve school attendance levels.

The number of days missed by students in secondary schools in Limerick represents 9.7% of the total school days in the 2023/24 school year. At primary level, the number of days missed by pupils represents 7.5% of the total school calendar.

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The campaign launch comes as new data from TESS shows that nationally over one in five children and young people at primary and post-primary level miss over 20 days of their school year.

Áine O’Keeffe, director of TESS, said: “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.”

“The campaign aims to raise awareness about how many school days are being missed.”

Minister McEntee said that while a reduction in the total number of days lost was positive, the level of absenteeism in schools remained far too high.