Missing just a day or two of school can lead to lower Leaving Cert grades, ESRI warns
The article was published in the Irish Independant by Darragh Nolan and the full rticle can be found at;
Prof. Emer Smyth’s morning Ireland interview can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf3xnVnkY38
Students who miss 20 or more days of school a year could lose more than 80 points in their Leaving Cert, according to a new study.
Research from the ESRI found a link between short absences of just one or two days at age 13 and lower Leaving Cert grades.
Longer absences from school at age 13 were found to be “significantly related” to a lower chance of going on to higher education and of achieving a degree by age 25.
Emer Smyth, a co-author of the ESRI report, said school absence can lead to “later inequality”.
The research pointed to a number of impacts on health and well-being, including “chronic absence” in children aged between nine and 13 being predictive of depressive symptoms and higher stress among 20 and 25-year-olds.
Life satisfaction at 20 and 25 was found to be “much lower” among people who were persistently absent from school at 13.
People with higher levels of absence at 13 reported poorer physical health at 20 and 25, even when other factors including earlier health, disability and social background were taken into account.
Researchers also found school absences were linked to worse outcomes in the jobs market. Prolonged absences were linked to being less likely to be in a professional or managerial job, and to lower employment income.