School dropouts get a chance to make their case

I AM requesting young people who, for one reason or another, have dropped out of school early and not completed their Leaving Certificate to take part in research into how and why the school system has failed them.

Given that early school-leavers tend to have low reading levels, I am aware it may be parents or past teachers who respond on their behalf.

Recent figures from the OECD indicate that 14%, or one in every seven second-level students, do not complete upper secondary education which leaves Ireland lagging perilously behind a number of our European counterparts such as the Czech Republic (10%), Finland (7%), Switzerland (11%) and Norway (9%).

Reports from the ESRI’s 2006 school-leavers’ survey indicate an even higher dropout rate and estimate that as many as 18% (one in six) of students leave school prior to final exams.

Where gender is concerned, there is a marked difference with boys being more prone to dropping out of school early than girls.

The facts speak for themselves. Our current education system is failing a huge number of our children. As a result these young people are hugely disadvantaged and their life chances are curtailed.

For this reason, and with the support of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science, I am undertaking a comprehensive study entitled ‘Under-achievement in Second-Level Education: The Way Forward’ in collaboration with the Educational Research Centre in Drumcondra, Dublin.

The aims of this study are to determine:

1. What are the characteristics of students who are at risk of dropping out of the system, and who have dropped out?

2. What school and student characteristics predict dropout?

3. Why do students drop out of the system and in what way is the education system failing them?

4. What strategies might assist in increasing retention rates, and how might these be implemented?

Ireland is still a considerable distance from its target of a retention rate to Leaving Certificate of 90% and with ESRI reports stating that dropout rates have remained largely unchanged since the early 1990s, the situation does not look hopeful.

I am urging early school-leavers who are interested in taking part in this essential research to contact me at my Galway constituency office on 091-768466 or at my Seanad office on 01-6183742.

By working together we will attempt to find a school system that works for all.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames

Fine Gael Spokesperson on Education and Science,

Oranmore

Co Galway