Govt urged to tackle educational disadvantage
The Government came under pressure today to tackle educational disadvantage as figures showed more than half of students in some areas drop out of school before completing their Leaving Certificate.
The retention rates report, published today by Education Minister Mary Hanafin, revealed that 77.8% of students who began the Junior Certificate cycle in 1996 sat their Leaving Cert, with an additional estimated 3.2% outside the State system.
But in some areas, such as Dublin city, the rate dropped to as low as 69%, with 26 schools in the city recording Leaving Cert retention rates of 50% or less.
Educational problems begin even earlier in some areas, with several schools in Dublin and Limerick showing a retention rate of 60% or less for the Junior Cert.
Senator Joanna Tuffy, Labour’s Seanad spokeswoman on education, said the results showed the Government had failed to make schooling a priority.
“Once again and despite our economic boom, Ireland has the dubious honour of having one of the highest quit rates in second level education in the first world.
“This unacceptable level of early school leaving reflects the Government’s absolute inaction in tackling educational disadvantage,” she said.
“Early school leavers suffer from the decision to end their education at this stage. They have less earning potential than those who continue and they may find that their careers do not progress beyond a particular plateau.”
Ms Tuffy said schemes to tackle educational disadvantage such as the Early Start programme had not been expanded by the Government, and that it was important to make primary education a priority.
“If the resources are not there to give all children a fair start in their education, why should these second-level drop out figures be surprising?
“The money is there for the Government to address the problems of educational disadvantage but the political will is not,” she said.
But Education Minister Mary Hanafin defended the retention results and the Government’s provision of a post-Junior Cert education for young people.
“It is important to recognise that the report deals only with retention within the State-aided schooling system.
“It does not take account of important educational pathways outside this system such as Youthreach and apprenticeship training.
“Pupils leaving school to undertake these programmes are treated as early school leavers for the purposes of the analysis in the report,” she said.
“The Government has taken a number of initiatives in recent years to tackle the issue of early school leaving, including the setting up of the National Education Welfare Board and supports under the School Completion Programme and Home School Community Liaison Scheme.”
The report, the second published by the Department of Education and Science on school retention, tracked the progress of more than 64,000 students at 720 schools who began their Junior Cert cycle in September 1996.
The figures showed there had been little change in the levels of youngsters completing their Leaving Cert but there were improvements in vocational educational courses.
Secondary schools had the highest retention rates with an average of 82%, while vocational schools retained 68% of their students through to Leaving Cert and community and comprehensive schools had an average of 76%.
Across all schools, boys were less likely to complete their education than girls, with 83.8% of girls taking their Leaving Cert compared to 72.1% of boys.
