Tusla launches initiative to increase school attendance
Six per cent of students on average are absent from school every day.
The Child and Family Agency, Tusla, has launched a new initiative as well as an attendance drive.
The Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) aims to promote school attendance, retention and participation.
The rebrand of the Educational Welfare Service also revealed that 60,000 children are missing from school every day on average.
Director of TESS, Noel Kelly, said he wants that to drop by 5,000 by the end of this year.
"We're not going to move it that fast because we've already moved [it]," he said.
"Our school completion rate it as 92%, it was only 85% in 2000 so if we could get that 6% down to 5.5% I would be thrilled."
Coupled with the launch of TESS, Tusla also unveiled its school attendance drive for November.
Tusla says 1,700 schools have put their support behind the new campaign.
