Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 1

Written Answers. - Third Level Participation.

Dan Wallace

Question:

58 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Minister for Education if she will give details of the most accurate estimates available to her of variation in participation rates at third-level according to socio-economic status; the comparative estimates available from other EU countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12696/96]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

The most recent data on participation in higher education by socio-economic group are those based on a national survey of the 1992 entrants to higher education. The data are contained in tabular format in the report Access to College: Patterns of Community and Change by Professor Patrick Clancy. This report was published by the Higher Education Authority in November 1995. The information requested by the Deputy is in the form of a tabular statement which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.

There is no international comparative data readily available on participation rates in higher education by socio-economic groups. However, the results of research projects and national reviews undertaken by a number of EU member states indicate the pervasiveness of social class inequality in educational attainment.

As indicated in the White Paper Charting Our Education Future, it is a major policy objective of the Government to promote equality of access to higher education, irrespective of social class, age or disability, for all who have the capacity to benefit from it. There is no single or simple solution to this problem. Rather it requires persistent, targeted and regularly evaluated policies which seek over time to redress present imbalances. Educational underachievement is, in many cases, rooted in wider and fundamental social inequalities and differences and has its roots, in many cases, in early childhood. Accordingly, initiatives in relation to participation in third level education are the culmination of strategies to tackle educational disadvantage throughout a child's schooling.

Estimated Admission Rates to Higher Education (% age cohort) by Socio-Economic Group in 1992.

Socio-Economic Group	1992 Admission Rates
	%
Farmers	49
Other Agricultural Occupations	22
Higher Professional	89
Lower Professional	53
Employers and Managers	67
Salaried Employees	53
Intermediate Non-Manual Workers	33
Other Non-Manual Workers	26
Skilled Manual Workers	26
Semi-Skilled Manual Workers	16
Unskilled Manual Workers	13
Total	36