Question:
409 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science if failure rates are available for science courses in each institute of technology; and if this data will be published. [30678/01]
Written Answers. - Institutes of Technology.
Failure rates for science courses for each institute of technology are not available in my Department.
At the request of my Department, the Council of Directors of institutes of technology commissioned the ERC to undertake a study on non-completion in institute of technology courses. Part 1 of this study provides analyses of data on non-completion by institution, gender and field of study for first-time entrants to eleven institutes of technology in 1995.
The study shows an overall non-completion rate of 41.5% in science courses across the eleven institutes surveyed. These data are broken down as follows:
|
Athlone |
63.8% |
|
Carlow |
34.9% |
|
Cork |
20.3% |
|
Dundalk |
69.8% |
|
Galway-Mayo |
35.6% |
|
Letterkenny |
68.4% |
|
Limerick |
32.6% |
|
Sligo |
39.7% |
|
Tallaght |
52.3% |
|
Tralee |
28.9% |
|
Waterford |
33.3% |
|
All ITs |
41.5% |
Data from Carlow, Cork, Limerick, Tralee and Letterkenny are for chemistry and biology subjects combined. Data from all other institutes are general science.
The Dublin Institute of Technology also conducted a similar quantitative study that provides analyses of data on completion rates by gender and field of study. These data indicate an overall non-completion rate of 43.18% in the science field of study for the 1994 cohort of full-time first-year students.
The findings of the above studies are available from the Council of Directors of Institutes of Technology and the Dublin Institute of Technology.