Paper attendance records used in primary schools are wasting teachers' time, it has been claimed.

Gerry Murphy, president of the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN), suggested these details should be kept in digital format in order to free up more hours for teachers and to prepare children for the 'knowledge economy', the Irish Independent reports.

Speaking at the IPPN annual conference, Mr Murphy explained no alterations have been made to the current system since 1922, adding the Department of Education will not accept attendance in digital form - rather it will only take in "antiquated ledgers".

He asked: "How does this vision for the future blend with the reality for those children who every day in their classrooms watch their teacher manually entering data into the leabhar rolla?"

More than 1,000 primary school principals were in attendance at the event and were informed that while many schools are managing their records through electronic systems, this information cannot be transferred to the department digitally.

Written by Donal Walsh

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