Vol. 506 No. 4
50 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps, if any, he has taken to ensure that all pupils transfer to second level schools on completion of primary education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15615/99]
The Education (Welfare) Bill, which I recently published will provide for the introduction of a comprehensive school attendance service. The legislation includes specific measures to put in place an effective tracking system to ensure children can be identified and early interventions put in place in support of children who are at risk of dropping out of the school system at all levels, including those at risk of not transferring to second level education.
One of the key objectives of the eight to 15 early school leavers initiative, a two year pilot project which was introduced in September 1998, is to test models of response to the problem of early school leaving, with a view to the integration of such models, after structured evaluation, into mainstream policy and practice. Among the models being tested are transfer programmes from primary to second level including the tracking of all sixth class pupils of 1998 in the schools involved in this initiative.
