This article is from page 25 of the 2010-03-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 25 JPG
NINE years ago 16.5 per cent of the county’s secondary students had dropped out of school before com- pleting their Leaving Certificate ex- aminations.
Although Clare may have had one of the highest student retention rates in the country, the fact that three out of every twenty students dropped out of the education system before their eighteenth birthday should be the cause for some concern.
The demand for increased skill levels from employers has resulted in a steady decline in job opportuni- ties for those who leave school be- fore completing upper second-level education. Leaving school early is an important indicator of educational disadvantage and in the current cri- sis, a full education is a vital neces- sity for a successful future.
Back in 2001, the latest date for which department statistics are available, there were 1,388 students attending Clare’s eighteen second- level schools. 4.4 per cent of them left school before their Junior Certifi- cate examinations and 16.5 per cent before their Leaving Certificate.
On a national level, the number of first year pupils enrolled in the 705 second-level schools was 56,278. The number who sat and were grad- ed in at least one subject in the Junior Certificate examination, amounted to 54,067. Therefore there was a 13.9 per cent drop in attendance. The fi-
nal rate of students who dropped out before their Leaving Certificate was 15.3 per cent.
Male students were less likely to complete their Leaving Certificate with a drop-out rate of 18 per cent in secondary schools; 31 per cent in vocational schools and 24 per cent in community and comprehensive schools in comparison to 13 per cent, 18 per cent and 13 per cent respec- tively for female students.
There is now a wide range of pro- grammes and initiatives focused on ensuring each participating sec-
ond-level pupil can experience and progress to their full ability by pro- viding a wider range of curricula. These include the Junior Certificate school programme, the school com- pletion programme, the home school community liaison scheme and many more.
Full details are available on the De- partment of Education website.