Over 1,550 Galway primary school students are absent each day

ALMOST six per cent of Co Galway primary school children are absent from class on any given day, according to the makers of a new smartphone app which is designed to make it easier for teachers to monitor absenteeism. Irish software firm Sales Pulse has developed the app, called Rollcall, which allows teachers to record absenteeism at the touch of a button on their smartphones. The app was launched at the recent Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) conference held in Dublin. Research [private]released recently by the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) found that 1,550 Galway primary school pupils miss school each day. This represents 5.9 per cent of the 26,273 primary school students throughout Galway city and county. Having developed dedicated software for primary schools since the company was founded in Kilkenny ten years ago, SalesPulse's 'Primary Schools Administration System' is now in place in over 300 schools across the country, providing services that include tracking school attendance and mails and texts to parents and the storage of parents' contact details. SalesPulse recently upgraded this software to a secure cloud-based system, allowing principals, teachers and school secretaries to access the system from many locations. While teachers traditionally use a computer to manage class attendance, many feel that roll calls are time-consuming. Updating attendance through this app is simple, with teachers only having to flag the absent pupil. The app then updates the roll book on the administration system. 'With almost 80 per cent of people in Ireland owning smartphones, our app is something new to the market. We are confident that teachers will find this app extremely useful, saving time and hassle. It also means attendance records are accessible to teacher and principal immediately, alerting them to any unexplained absences,' said Brian Kelly, SalesPulse. [/private]