Number leaving school at 15 almost doubles

Education Correspondent Niall Murray reports on the increase in early school-leavers.

THE number of 15-year-olds leaving school early almost doubled between 1996 and 2002, the latest census report shows.

Figures gathered in the 2002 Census show that 5.5% of 15-year-olds had left school, compared to just 3.1% six years earlier.

More than 17,000 15 to 17-year-olds, one in every eleven in that age bracket, had left full-time education. Of that number, 1,163 had dropped out aged 14 or younger.

The increases in early school-leaving comes in spite of numerous initiatives by the Department of Education and other Government agencies in recent years to encourage young people to stay on in school and go on to college or further education.

Teachers Union of Ireland president Derek Dunne said while the availability of jobs for young people might be a factor, most of the blame lies with the Government.

“It’s a sign that the curriculum in schools isn’t offering enough to make sure those students stay in education. The programmes to tackle school drop-out rates just aren’t working,” he said.

Education Minister Noel Dempsey has said on numerous occasions that there is a lot of duplication in schemes and the Educational Disadvantage Committee pointed to this as a key area requiring change last year.

However, no comment was available on the figures from the Department of Education last night.

The National Educational Welfare Board, whose work is aimed at tackling absenteeism and to discourage early school-leaving, was critical of its funding allocated in the Government’s spending estimates last November.

The board had sought €25 million to recruit sufficient staff to expand services to more than 80% of schools, but instead only received €5.7 million.

The Census 2002 volume on education and qualifications shows that the rate of 16-year-olds whose full-time education had finished dropped from 9% in 1996 to 7.7%, and for 17-year-olds it fell from 16.7% to 14.25%.

One-in-four people over the age of 15 had a third-level qualification on the date of the last census, up from 19% in 1996. The corresponding figures for those in the labour force were 30% and 25%, respectively.

Urban areas had a higher proportion of graduates than rural areas, with the highest proportion in Maynooth, Co Kildare with 44%, followed by Malahide, Co Dublin (43%), Oranmore, Co Galway and Greystones, Co Wicklow (both 40%).

The census figures also reveal recent growths in adult and continuing education, with more than 4,743 people aged between 40 and 64 in full-time school or third level education, compared to only 2,233 in the same age bracket six years earlier.