Education review - Drop-out rate must be tackled

It is perplexing to try to reconcile the fact that on the day the Minister for Education Noel Dempsey announced a major review of third-level higher education, shocking figures emerged about the drop-out rate of pupils in secondary and vocational schools.

That is not to suggest that the review which Mr Dempsey has commissioned the OECD to carry out should not be undertaken, but it is a warning that there is a fundamental lacuna in our education system.

The aim of the year-long review is to broadly examine the higher education system in this country, including the issues of finance and access, to determine Ireland's competitiveness in the area and how it may be improved.