Senator urges review of transition year

THE transition year option in secondary schools should be reviewed in light of its apparent effects on students’ attitudes to learning, a senator has suggested.

Progressive Democrat senator John Minihan was responding to a recent Government agency report which claimed transition year was introducing teenagers to part-time work too young.

The Skills Initiative Unit study showed young people who worked during term under-achieved at Leaving Certificate.

“It is imperative that the Minister for Education debates this issue with a view to amending wider education policy,” said Mr Minihan.

As a member of the Oireachtas Education Committee, Senator Minihan said he was worried about the report’s assertion that transition year may disrupt the education of young people and lead them to believe school is less important than work.

In approximately 500 of the country’s 751 second-level schools transition year is either an obligatory or as an option. Each year since it became a mainstream course in 1994, more than 25,000 students have completed the transition year programme.

“While a laudable concept when initially introduced, the transition year programme now seems to provide students with an opportunity to spend more time in the workplace than in the classroom,” said Senator Minihan.

The Transition Year Curriculum Support Service (TYCSS), which assists schools with their programmes, rejected Senator Minihan’s comments.

TYCSS national coordinator Patsy Sweeney said the benefits to young people of the transition year experience have not been highlighted.

“Other studies have shown that those who do transition year are likely to do best later in education, and are least likely to drop out of third level early,” said Ms Sweeney.

Ms Sweeney said the transition year also helps them develop skills they may need to stay in college, but also prepares them emotionally for their adult and working lives.