Limerick city faces crisis in school retention

SECOND-LEVEL students in Limerick city still have an almost one-in-four chance of not making it to Leaving Certificate despite major progress on the school dropout problem in most of the county.

The 22.4% — or 300 — of all 1,347 students who entered first year in the city’s 14 schools seven years ago and did not complete their education is just 0.2% less than the dropout rate among those who began second level there three years earlier.

While a number of counties have seen dropout rates fall as much as 5% or 6% in the same period, including Longford where less than one-in-nine dropped out ahead of the 2009 or 2010 Leaving Certificates, Limerick city stands out as having the biggest problem with school retention.