I welcome the Minister for Children and Family Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, back to her alma mater. I am sure she has fond memories of the Chamber.
This is a Private Members' Bill and I have already outlined what it is about.
Education (Welfare) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage
I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I intend to share time with Senator Kevin Humphreys.
I welcome the Minister and thank her for her indication of support for the Bill. It is much appreciated.
I wish to read some words written by Tom Johnson almost 100 years ago. Today we are recognising the 100th anniversary of the granting of the vote to some women for the first time in 1918. Since we are going through a period of reflection on from where we have come and where we are, it is important for us to reflect on the revolutionary ethos that underpinned those times. I speak of Tom Johnson because he was the first leader of the Labour Party in the Oireachtas. He was asked to pen the first democratic programme of the First Dáil. As the Labour Party had not sought election in 1918, the honour was given to him to write it. He wrote:
It shall be the first duty of the Government of the Republic to make provision for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the children, to secure that no child shall suffer hunger or cold from lack of food, clothing, or shelter, but that all shall be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training as Citizens of a Free and Gaelic Ireland.
It was the children to whom Tom Johnson turned first. As you know, a Chathaoirligh, our legislation requires children to be in school between the ages of six and 16 years. Unfortunately, there are problems with the attendance records of many children aged four or five years in the school system. Obviously, these problems are not of their making and it is within the power of their parents or guardians to deal with them. They will have a major impact on their ability to reach their potential in later years.
I have read through the international research on the abilities of children at early ages. I often quote from the 1995 Hart and Risley report which concluded that the average three year old from a welfare dependent family had, on average, one third of the oral language capacity of a three year old from a rich or advantaged family. A poor child aged three years has 400 words, while a rich child - if a child can be rich at the age of three years - has 1,200. Even at the earliest stage, a disadvantaged child has a major gap to close.
I view literacy and educational disadvantage in the way tuberculosis was viewed in the 1940s and 1950s when it was said no one should get sick because he or she was poor. It is similar with illiteracy. People will always have difficulty in reading, but they should never have difficulty in reading because they are poor.
Effectively, we are trying to deal with four and five year olds with chronic attendance difficulties. Often they can be sick, for which there are reasons. Any medical professional will back up the family and deal with Tusla in that regard. However, if a parent is poor and in despair and in a family that is struggling to function because of any number of stresses and strains, including addiction and poverty, bringing a child to school can be the last thing on his or her list of priorities. We want to ensure that if a child is four or five years of age and vulnerable and at the beginning of the educational journey, that journey will be defended by the State, Tusla, the political system and legislation.
Unfortunately, families often do not understand the power of education and the importance of being in school every day. As a former school principal in an area of acute disadvantage, I know that Mondays and Fridays often fell by the wayside. On half days, people often took full days off. Christmas and summer can be difficult. It is not because parents or guardians do not love their children but it is because education has failed too many parents and too many people. When they look at school or education, they are looking at something very negative. In some instances they would rather be friends with their children than parents. That is completely understandable.
The Minister rolled out and robustly defended the ABC programme which we started in the last Government. These are programmes across acutely disadvantaged areas. They empower parents to understand the power of oral language, literacy, school attendance and diet, which can prepare a child for life. The scheme in Darndale is called Preparing for Life.
In our Bill, we want four and five year olds to be prepared for life. If children are not regular attenders at school, it should be within the capacity of Tusla to intervene with the family but not in a negative or an aggressive way, or in a way that would undermine the parents, but in a compassionate and empowering way which ensures parents and guardians can ensure that attendance patterns are improved. The Minister will appreciate that if a four or five year old is missing from school for 60 to 90 days a year, we can be sure those attendance patterns will be as bad if not worse if we fast forward ten years.
We should be striving for the total eradication of illiteracy. I met an educational psychologist in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, called Tommy MacKay who speaks in those terms. Unfortunately, the ambition for our language has not been strong enough. We have spoken about breaking the cycle and delivering equality of opportunity in schools. However, striving for the total eradication of illiteracy has to be our goal. Attendance at school for four and five year old boys and girls across this State is something we need to strive for.
As the Minister said, under 50% of four year olds are enrolled in schools but the vast majority of five year olds are. If a child has chronic attendance issues, the teacher or principal of the school is effectively powerless because of the legislative issue of only requiring children to be in school between six and 16 years of age. With the best will in the world, a teacher or a principal can only go so far.
With our amendment, any child enrolled in school aged four or five will come under the auspices of the Educational Welfare Act. That will be a positive move. I appreciate the Government is supporting and will facilitate the Bill. I appreciate there is broad agreement in this House that this Bill is a good piece of work.
As we recall our past and look to our future, we should note that throughout the history of our State it is our children who have been let down time and again. Education is the great liberator and the one thing that will drag a child out of poverty. It is said the most revolutionary action a girl can take is to pick up a book. That is why Boko Haram is kidnapping schoolgirls in Nigeria and that is why Malala Yousafzai's life was threatened with a gunshot as she was on her way to school. A ten year old girl with a book is probably the most dangerous thing in the world.
What we need to encourage in Ireland is the ambition that four and five year old children with books can change the world. However, if they are not in school everyday, if their families are not in a position to send them to school everyday or if they feel that education is down the list of priorities, then there has to be an agency that can empower those parents and guardians to bring those children back to school. Tusla is that agency but I appreciate that it will say it is under-resourced in terms of educational welfare officers. We can have a discussion about the number of educational welfare officers.
Let us defend the rights of four and five olds to their education, if they are enrolled in a school they want to attend. As the Minister knows, primary schools across Ireland are the most wonderful places in the country, regardless of quibbles and complaints about resources and various different things that will always be needed. A person cannot walk into any primary school in the country and not be uplifted. I refer to professionalism, love, care and just the buzz of what children bring to a place. That is what we are trying to achieve. Thankfully, we are achieving that together. We appreciate the Minister's support for this Bill which will become law and four and five year olds will have their educational rights protected.
I formally second the Bill. I congratulate, on behalf of the Labour Party, Senator Ó Ríordáin on the work he has done and on the fact that the Minister is accepting the Bill. I grew up in the inner city. Part of the south docks is a mirror image of the north docks. It is an area that has not recovered since containerisation. We have seen much unemployment in the core of the inner city. Drug addiction and crime have followed on from that with young people seeing no future and being locked out of education. They have seen the new Dublin grow up around them. They have seen the Irish Financial Services Centre, the docklands authority and the silicon docks rise out of the ashes.
They feel locked out. They do not feel any of those doors are open to them. They do not see the benefit of education. In many instance, there is not the habit of going through the educational system. I refer to anything that would close that gap, where a child can fall through that crevice and not get an opportunity to have the same advantages as everyone else of a good education. Senator Ó Ríordáin mentioned the ABC programme and the early intervention which Professor Josephine Bleach, who I know works closely with the Minister, has pioneered in the inner city. The ladies who go around the flat complexes in the north and the south inner city are known as the book ladies. They are the people who bring books into the flats and who teach the parent how to play with the child, how to teach the ABCs, and how to hold a pencil, a simple little thing. Child arrive into a classroom in the first year of study and have not have developed the dexterity to hold a pencil.
At four or five years of age, when the children enter the formal education system, they are already two or three years behind in their development. This Bill is a small measure to close off one of the gaps. I refer to the habit of going to school everyday, which is so important. The Bill does not set out punish parents but to support parents and children to make sure they have equality of opportunity. In many places, from Tallaght to Ringsend and from the North Wall to Ballymun, many of our children are denied that equality of opportunity from the very beginning. Sometimes it is due to circumstances outside of the child's control. It may be a problem the parents have with addiction, whether to drugs or alcohol, or it may even be that their parents did not regard education as empowering or as a way to future prosperity.
I visit schools in my area when the leaving certificate results come out. I will not mention the schools but if one visits a school in an affluent area in my constituency and asks students where they are going and what is next, one will be told they are going to Trinity, that they have applied to UCD or that they are taking a gap year and that they are going to Oxford next year. They have their educational roadmap laid out in front of them. If one visits the north or south inner city and asks the same question, one may be hit with the answer that they are going to sign on. How do we stop children giving up by the age 17 or 18? We have to make sure the supports are put in at a very early stage. That is why the ABC programme and the early intervention have worked so well.
I supported the work of Professor Josephine Bleach and the Minister has continued to support that fantastic programme. It has empowered children and got them to the starting line at the same level as everyone else. We have to do what Senator Ó Ríordáin said, namely, not break off support once they enter the education system. We have to support parents and children to develop the good habit of going to school every day. They should not miss school because holidays are being booked close to summer holidays or because there is an event in the family. We need to emphasise the importance of going to school every day and make sure that habit is entrenched at a very early stage in a child's educational life. We also need to make sure that the support of Tusla is in place to assist parents and children. All Departments can be underfunded, but let us deal with that and make sure our legislation reflects our ambition for our young people.
I welcome the Minister's support for the Bill. Everybody in the House wants the best for all of our children. Unfortunately in this State some children start school at a disadvantage because of the areas in which they are born. We have a responsibility, given the economic recovery, to target that economic recovery at our children to make sure they have equality of opportunity. A child in Pearse Street should have the same opportunities as a child born in Terenure. If we work together and focus the spending of the recovery in the proper areas, the next generation of children will be the best generation we can possibly produce. I again thank the Minister for her support for the Bill.
I welcome the Minister. I commend her and my Labour Party colleagues on bringing forward the proposal. The fact that the Bill is receiving more or less unanimous support shows that people are putting children at the centre of this. It demonstrates the importance of lifelong learning. The Bill covers those aged from six years to 16 years of age, but it is very important that four year olds and five year olds are included.
I note the commitment from the Government to two years of free preschool, which is very important. The Bill is complementary to that, along with introducing youth into education earlier. A survey showed that when children are happy in education and learning from a young age, they are happier in themselves as they grow older. It gives them confidence. This is a very beneficial Bill.
It was frightening to read that close to 6,000 referrals were made in respect of children who did not attend school last year, which is quite a high figure. The Bill will help that deficit. The school completion programme and the home school liaison service are very complementary to the Bill. The Departments of Children and Youth Affairs and Education and Skills working together will achieve what is of benefit to children, in particular younger children.
Senators Ó Ríordáin and Humphreys referred to the fact that some children do not attend school due to disadvantage. It is very important that the Minister's Department and Tulsa work with the parents and guardians of the children concerned. The help and support coming from them would be of advantage to the parents and children. Close co-operation and communication is very important and the doors of communication should be kept open at all times.
I compliment the Minister on her foresight in accepting the Bill. I compliment all involved in supporting the Bill. At the end of the day, we all want a high standard of education for those who are young and not so young. Lifelong learning, no matter what age one is, is very important to all of us. I commend the Bill.
I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and compliment my Labour Party colleague on bringing forward this sensible and worthwhile Bill which we in Fianna Fáil, along with others, are very happy to support. I welcome the fact that Department of Children and Youth Affairs would have the power to intervene at a much earlier age, something which is vitally important. The saying "A stitch in time saves nine" comes to mind in respect of the Bill. If there is an issue with a particular child in school it can be identified early and steps can be taken to talk to the parents and determine the difficulties. That can be done not in a heavy-handed way but, as outlined by Senator Ó Ríordáin, in a compassionate and thoughtful way with a view to finding a resolution to the difficulties in order that the children concerned get the best possible chance to get an education that, it is to be hoped, will be their passport to a better life.
The most recent statistics available are for 2015 and 2016. I note there was a slight increase on previous years, which is quite worrying. It is timely that Senator Ó Ríordáin is bringing the Bill to the House at this particular point in time. All Senators have outlined the reasons for that in their contributions and I will not be repetitive. We in Fianna Fáil are delighted to be associated with the Bill, and look forward to its speedy passage and to it becoming law.
I am quite surprised that such legislation has not been introduced before now. The Bill is so obvious that one would wonder how it has not been in place up to this point. I again compliment Senator Ó Ríordáin on his foresight. His experience of being a school principal in the area in which he worked has given him an added dimension in terms of the sensitivities of this particular issue. We are delighted to support the Bill and we look forward to its speedy passage through both Houses.
On behalf of Sinn Féin I welcome the Bill to the House and again compliment our colleague, Senator Ó Ríordáin. It is a good Bill. I agree with Senator Gallagher. I was surprised to find this was not already covered by legislation. The Bill addresses an important gap which needs to be bridged. It addresses an issue which is of serious concern, as Senator Byrne alluded to, in respect of our schools and attendance.
The facts are that, whether it is a good thing, we know that of the 67,000 children who begin primary school each year, the vast majority are aged under six years and we need to ensure that they are protected by the law. We know from academic research that long-term absences and poor attendance records can cause instability as well as literacy and numeracy skills development issues in young children. These issues were addressed in the original Education and Welfare Act by introducing mandatory attendance at primary school for those aged over six years. We agree with this for the reasons outlined, but also because we believe that children have the right to an education and no parent should be allowed to deny his or her child that right. It is for those reasons that we agree that if a child aged four or five years is enrolled in a primary school by his or her parents, the parent should also be mandated to achieve an attendance record to the same standard as any other child in primary school.
I wish to raise some other issues related to this topic. I am sure the Minister will be aware that Ireland already differs from most European countries in that most children in the EU do not start school until the age of six or older. In countries such as Finland and Sweden, both of which rank highly for academic achievement and child well-being, children do not begin school until the age of seven years. We need to look at why that is the case. The issue of children starting school early in Ireland has been highlighted by Early Childhood Ireland and the Irish Primary Principals Network. Both groups said that many children aged four or five are not ready for primary school for a number of reasons.
We know schools in Ireland refuse to take children as students whose fourth birthday falls in June, July or August to protect the children from being left behind in class. If a four year old child falls behind, he or she may never catch up. The mixing of ages in a classroom can be difficult. For instance, because a child is entitled to begin primary education any time between his or her fourth and sixth birthday, a two-year gap means there can be significant differences in development, motor and social skills and the child's all-round maturity.
We also know from statistics published in the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study that children from lower socio-economic groups begin school earlier.
Statistically, over half of children born to low-income families in 2008 started school in 2012 aged four years whereas less than one quarter of children from the highest income group began at the same age. That there is a class divide is worrying.
Fortunately, we know from evidence published in 2017 that more families are deciding to delay their children's entry into primary school, as they are availing of the preschool years provided by the State. This is evident in the statistic that the proportion of four year olds attending primary school fell from 47% in 2000 to 27% in 2017, which suggests that many parents do not feel that their children are ready for primary school at four years of age and would benefit from the preschool years. Therefore, we reiterate our welcome for the introduction of the second year of preschool. It is an invaluable year and will assist in the development of children who take up the opportunity.
We understand that, of the 500,000 children attending primary school, one in ten misses more than 20 days each year. The majority of these children are already protected by the Education Welfare Act but are still missing school. Perhaps we need to look beyond simply punishing parents for their child's poor attendance and consider the reasons that child is missing from school. Is it because the family is living in emergency accommodation and has no means of transporting the child to school on time? Is it because the school transport system is underfunded and the route is not accommodated? Is the child's home environment difficult and supports are not there for the parents? These are questions that must be answered before a child or a parent is held accountable.
Age, even at an early stage, is only one determining factor of a child's readiness for education. Some children will be much more mature at the ages of four and five, their linguistic abilities will be more advanced than that of others their age, and their family environments may also assist in settling them into school. If a parent wishes to enrol a child into a primary school at the age of four or five, that child should be protected under the Education Welfare Act. Therefore, we support and welcome this Bill.
Several of us have just come from the education committee, at which a number of powerful presentations on educational disadvantage were given. An Cosán was in attendance and Ms Elizabeth Waters made a particularly strong contribution. If the Minister has time, she should consider the brave and radical comments made by Dr. John Bissett of the Canal Communities Local Drugs Task Force. In particular, he challenged the ideology of equality of opportunity. It does not work for working class and disadvantaged people. We need to move to equality of outcomes. The Minister's colleague, Ms Waters, echoed those sentiments. What Dr. Bissett had to say - I listened to the last of it on television while I was preparing for this debate - was powerful testimony.
I welcome Senator Ó Ríordáin's reference to the democratic programme for governance. A powerful document, it was 100 years ahead of its time. Here we are 100 years later and we are still waiting. The programme spoke of equality and public control of key sectors of our economy. It spoke of putting public interests ahead of the rights of private ownership. When Sinn Féin celebrated the document ten years ago in the Mansion House, Deputy Adams asked whether it was any wonder that it had not been mentioned. It set out a radical vision that has been forgotten about for far too long in the State. If we are ever to achieve the goals that Mr. Tom Johnson and radical republicans and trade unionists set out at the time, we must listen to the challenging words of people like Dr. Bissett and Ms Waters regarding what we must do in education.
A colleague from Fianna Fáil cited a startling statistic this evening. If I am wrong, please accept my apologies. She mentioned that there were 89 school inspectors in the Twenty-six Counties. In other words, each one had 45 schools to cover. The figure in the Six Counties is 130 inspectors. The significant lack of resources facing the Minister in this regard presents a major challenge.
I wanted to raise these points because there is a common theme about how we challenge disadvantage and move towards real equality in this Republic. I welcome the Bill, which has Sinn Féin's full support.
As an Independent Minister, a campaigner and fighter for social justice, I welcome and support this Bill. I wish to inform Senators that I have also secured the agreement of Cabinet colleagues to support it. Senator Ó Ríordáin's work on this important issue as a teacher, campaigner and public representative is welcome and it is right that it should be acknowledged.
We are in the process of ensuring that our children have the best possible start in life. There is important work going on to improve preschool and primary school. Colleagues will be aware of our efforts to change one of the most expensive child care services in the world into the best. With unprecedented levels of investment and a great deal of political support from the Houses, we have made a good start. That work is continuing.
However, we must also ensure that those parents who opt to place their four or five year old children in primary school are supported. Currently, 40% of four year olds and virtually all five year olds attend primary school, yet our laws exclude them from supports that are only available to children of the legal school-going age, that being, six to 16 years. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I share the opinion that this needs to be corrected. I view the Bill in that context.
By acting now, we can ensure that, when necessary, parents are offered support - the Senator's Labour Party colleagues used the word "empowerment" - to give their children the very best start in school through regular attendance. The measures that we are discussing will allow appropriate interventions by Tusla's educational welfare services, EWS, with the families of four and five year olds. I welcome to the Public Gallery Mr. Noel Kelly, the director of the EWS, and the support given by him and Tusla for this Bill. Educational welfare officers will work with families and schools to improve the attendance, participation and engagement of our youngest pupils.
Parents are the main educators of their children and, therefore, have a key role. While the classroom, playground and formation of new friendships lead to learning, excitement and joy, it also requires commitment. It can be hard work, as Senator Ó Ríordáin and other colleagues indicated, and puts some families under pressure. For some, the new routine, time commitment and cost can be a struggle. The Bill will ensure those parents have extra support. Most fundamentally, we know that prevention and early intervention are much more effective than "cure". Appropriate early intervention, allied with high-quality early years services, is the best way to ensure that every child has a real and meaningful opportunity to realise his or her full potential.
We are making progress in providing options for children, parents and families. Senator Ó Ríordáin's Bill ensures extra support in primary school, but child care changes already in train also offer other options for parents of very young children. My mission is to ensure that every child is offered accessible, affordable and quality child care. Since the introduction of free preschool, which is provided under the early childhood care and education programme, in 2010, the number of children attending preschool has exceeded 95%. In line with the programme for Government commitment to introduce a second preschool year which will help prepare young children further for starting school, raising the school starting age to five years, the programme is being extended to two full years from this September.
The changes that we are making at preschool and primary school levels are positive. I support the Bill and welcome the support of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills. I promise that our Departments will work closely together, along with the EWS, on any potential policy or resource implications. I commend the Senator's initiative in introducing the Bill, given the positive impact that it will have on children and families and how it strengthens the legislative framework within which the EWS undertakes its work.
Senator Ó Ríordáin has a couple of minutes to wrap up if he wishes to take them. There has been a positive outcome for him.
Yes. I thank the Cathaoirleach. I also thank the Government for accepting the Bill and the Minister for her positive speech and her engagement, which has been a delight. I appreciate the comments of those Senators from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin who have contributed on the debate.
I want to put on the record of the House my appreciation to Tony McGillicuddy who penned the Bill. Approximately five years ago I tried to introduce it as a back bench Labour Party Deputy but it went into a raffle that I did not win. I then became a Minister of State and was unable to pursue it further. In any event, I thank the Minister for taking it on.
It is an important issue and I appreciate the comments made by other Senators. Regardless of the cut and thrust of these Houses, there are vulnerable children who need our support for whom small measures can last a lifetime. If, as a result of the Bill, one family engages in a positive way with Tusla and corrects the attendance issues of a child in school, we will have done good work today. It will affect more than just one family, however.
I also recognise the attendance of Noel Kelly. In a previous incarnation, he was very involved in the Preparing for Life scheme in Darndale that I referenced earlier. The scheme has changed countless numbers of lives in Dublin 17.
This Bill is part of a wider suite of measures that we need to discuss. Senator Ruane had an engaging conversation at the Joint Committee on Education and Skills on access at all levels of education. Campaigns were mentioned about trying to keep libraries open and have people think differently about education. Why is it that some people in our Republic, when asked to sign their charge sheet, will sign it with an X? It is because that is the only way they know to sign it. This happened early on in the person's life and was not changed in time so that this person would not have to sign the charge sheet with an X. That is the reality for too many people in our Republic.
Education is about empowerment and offering choice and different roads for people to take. Those roads should not be closed off at four or five years of age. As a former primary school principal, I know that it is not too late but it can be very difficult to change things at the age of four. Many teachers will say that they know by the child's demeanour that one four year old will have fewer challenges than another who might be sitting right beside him or her. It is upsetting to say that it is possibly too late for a four year old, and of course it is not too late for a four year old, but the damage that can be done to a child at that age can be difficult to reverse.
With the Bill we are trying to set positive patterns of attendance at the earliest age of a child's school life. There will be conversations about whether a child belongs in a formal school setting at four years of age and the Minister referred to that in her contribution. I appreciate her observations in that regard. Given the positive mindset she has brought to her Department and to the Bill, however, I think that this can be one of a suite of measures that we, on a cross-party basis, can introduce to try to improve the educational outcomes of the most vulnerable children in our Republic.
I appreciate the Minister's attendance in the House and her acceptance of the Bill as well as all the comments made across the Chamber. I look forward to progressing the Bill and seeing it enacted in the not too distant future.
Question put and agreed to.
When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?
Next week.
Committee Stage ordered for Tuesday, 13 February 2018.
When is it proposed to sit again?
Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.
The Seanad adjourned at 6.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 7 February 2018.