School drop-outs - Potential squandered

WE all should be concerned that there has been no significant reduction in the drop-out rate from secondary schools despite huge investment.

Almost one-in-five of the 60,000 students who started second level in 1999 did not sit the Leaving Certificate. This is substantial wastage and must be addressed.

In a week when teachers threatened to strike over class sizes and students’ behaviour, it is clear that these issues affect not only those doing the teaching but also some of those trying to do the learning.

If young people are disengaged because they have too many classmates or because some of them are disruptive then, it seems, the solution is obvious: smaller classes.

Minister Hanafin’s promise of 4,000 extra teachers last year might have contributed towards a solution but then the election was won and “circumstances changed”.

This is a scandalous waste and we cannot continue to fail our children on this tremendous scale.