Census to reveal progress on third-level education goals

THIS weekend’s census will help the Government establish if targets have been met for increasing third-level participation by students from poorer backgrounds.

While goals set a decade ago to improve the numbers of students with disabilities and mature students have been exceeded, the Department of Education is awaiting the outcome of the census to establish the latest participation rates by various socio-economic groups.

Because certain groups were under-represented among third-level students, targets were set to increase the numbers from non-manual backgrounds from 27% in 2004 to 37% by last year. Around one-in-five Irish households are in the non-manual category, the only group for which college participation rates fell between 1998 and 2004, although research for the Higher Education Authority last year showed the fall was specific to those from families working in the services sector, such as retail staff or care assistants.