A new ESRI report on school attendance has been criticised by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, the INTO. The report's key finding is that that young boys are much more likely to skip school than girls.
It also highlights how school attendance levels vary between different social classes.
However, the INTO's general secretary John Carr was scathing about the report last night.
"It is known that there are higher levels of non-attendance in areas of disadvantage. It is known that boys are more at risk than girls. The question is, what is going to be done about these issues?"
The ESRI report was prepared in conjunction with the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the body responsible for school attendance issues.
It finds that school organisation and ethos can also make a huge difference to student attendance. In particular, students appear to respond to positive interaction with teachers and to teacher expectations in terms of their attendance levels.
The INTO said the claim that "relatively little is known about the nature of poor attendance among different groups of students" was incredible.
Mr Carr said schools returned detailed data on non-attendance five times a year.
"Schools are expected to believe that little is known about the nature of non-school attendance," he said. "If there is no national data base on school attendance, then the question to be answered is, what is happening to the information that schools are sending back."
He said the proposal in the report for a new research project to collect even more data would be met with cynicism by primary schools. "It will be seen as yet another example of the data-collection and research industry that is plaguing schools, simply making the case for another research contract."
Mr Carr said it was time someone shouted stop; "enough is enough". "Another report will add nothing to what is known already. Schools gather and return enough data. It is past time that this was put to good use.
" In the mountain of data that goes to the NEWB, vital reports about children at risk are being lost or ignored. In schools all over Ireland, there are children whose attendance is a serious cause for concern and yet nothing is being done."
