One in four children in Ireland has special needs when attending school and these are often related to emotional or behavioural difficulties, a major conference will be told today.

The conference, ‘Children's Engagement in Education', is using data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, an ongoing study following the progress of almost 20,000 children throughout the country. Today's event is focusing on issues such as special needs, gender and social background.

According to researchers from the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute), one-quarter of children attending Irish schools have special educational needs, with boys and children from working class backgrounds more likely to fit into this group.

The researchers note that children with special needs, especially those with learning disabilities, ‘face considerable barriers to fully engaging in school life'.

"For such children, low levels of academic engagement and poor relations with their teachers and peers play a central role in explaining lower levels of school engagement and overall enjoyment of school," they said.

Meanwhile, different researchers also from the ESRI looked at the issue of gender and educational engagement among children aged nine years. They found that girls are much more likely to look forward to school, to like school and to like their teacher compared to boys.

Boys tend to have a higher level of absenteeism and are less likely than girls to regularly complete their homework.

Meanwhile, girls have slightly higher reading test scores, while boys tend to score higher in maths.

The conference is taking place in Dublin today.