Vol. 465 No. 3
30 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Education the number of pupils who left school in 1995 without having obtained formal qualifications; the number of pupils on Youthreach or similar programmes in 1995; the proposals, if any, she has to further reduce the number of pupils leaving school without formal qualifications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9602/96]
Work is currently in progress on the preparation of the 1996 annual school leavers' survey focusing on 1994-95 school leavers. I am not, however, yet in a position to give any indications as to the outcome of that survey. The 1995 ESRI annual school leavers' survey which focused on 1993-94 school leavers will be published very shortly and preliminary data from the survey indicates there has been a substantial decline in the number of leavers with no qualifications from a figure of 3,300 in 1992-93 to 2,200 in 1994-95. The overall number of Youthreach places was increased to 2,000 at the end of 1994 and a further 450 places are being provided in the current year. This will bring the total provision in the education sector to 2,450 places, and this is complemented by approximately 900 additional Foundation places funded by FÁS in community training workshops.
One of the main objectives of educational policy is to encourage and facilitate students to continue in full-time education up to the end of senior cycle. As outlined in the White Paper on Education, the target is that the percentage of the 16-18 year old age group completing senior cycle will increase to at least 90 per cent by the year 2000.
