School drop-out rate - Keep our kids off the scrap heap

TODAY’S front-page report, showing that one in four teenagers in some second-level schools are dropping out before the Leaving Certificate, is a wake-up call for the Government.

It comes as no surprise that the drop-out rate is worst in disadvantaged urban areas, where poor funding and large class sizes are an ongoing problem for pupils, teachers and parents alike. Marked progress in student retention has been made in the past decade as Government spending on disadvantage focused on schools serving deprived communities. But the latest statistics indicate the drop-out rate remains unacceptable, underlining the need for state investment in neglected areas.

Vocational schools and community colleges across the country are more likely to enrol a higher proportion of children from poorer families. And while the improvement in the drop-out rate is to be welcomed, it is worrying that one in four students opted out early from the crop who began school in 2001 and would have completed their education either in 2006 or 2007. By any yardstick, the retention rate of 74% in vocational schools compares poorly with the 84% completion rate of students who also started in voluntary secondary schools that year.