This article is from page 23 of the 2011-04-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
A COURT has heard concern expressed over the “chronic” levels of absenteeism of two children going to schools in the Ennis area.
One of the children was absent for 69 per cent of the current school term while his brother was absent 68 per cent of the term, Ennis District Court heard on Wednesday.
Their parents appeared in court after a case was brought against them by the National Education Welfare Board. If convicted, the couple faced a fine of € 635 or one month in prison.
The court was told that the parents have been separated since 2001 and that the children live with their mother. Mary Kirsty Dallas, education welfare officer, told the court that notices had been served to the father in January 2011 and to the mother in February 2010.
Ms Dallas said that despite repeated attempts to arrange meetings between the parents and teachers, “I rarely had any response.” Ms Dallas said the difficulties associated with trying to make contact with the mother had been a “hallmark of the case”.
Solicitor for the father told the court that his client started work before his sons were up for school. He said the man worked for a small company that had suffered recent job losses.
He added that in recent months his client had made more of an effort to call to his former partner’s house to get the children up for school.
The court heard that the mother often found it difficult to get the children up for school because they stayed up late playing computer games.
The father told the court that he accepted that his children had developed bad habits and that he would make more of an effort to ensure his children were up in time for school.
The mother told the court that her eldest son did not like going to school because his friend had moved away and he found school boring. The mother added that since the couple were ordered to appear in court, her sons are “scared”. She said she was willing to go on a parenting programme.
Judge Timothy Lucey told the court that the basis of the problem is the relationship between the parents. A problem, he said, was compounded by the fact that the father does not want to lose his job.
He adjourned the case for a year and said that if there wasn’t a “substantial improvement” in the children’s attendance record, the parents would be convicted and fined.