4,300 kids drop out of school before fifth year

Thousands of students annually drop out of school between first and fourth year, according to a report which exposes how early students are quitting the system.

A Department of Education report out today found that 7,713 students left the country’s 730 second-level schools before making it to sixth year in 2010, with 4,300 leaving before fifth year. The data for the 2009-10 school year found:

* More than 1,500 students had only got as far as first or second year;