Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Nov 1999

Vol. 511 No. 2

Written Answers. - Early School Leavers.

Brian O'Shea

Question:

153 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Education and Science the initiatives in place and the venues in County Waterford to deal with the problem of young people leaving school early (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23893/99]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

Among the 14 project areas selected for inclusion in the pilot phase of the eight-15 year old early school leavers initiative, was the Lisduggan-Ballybeg area of Waterford City which involves three primary and two second level schools and other statutory and voluntary agencies. One of the key objectives of this initiative is to test models of response to the problem of early school leaving with a view their replication, after structured evaluation, into mainstream policy and practice.

There are eight primary schools in County Waterford included in the disadvantaged areas scheme. By virtue of their inclusion in this scheme, they are also included in the home-school-community liaison scheme.

The home-school-community liaison scheme operates at primary and second level and it focuses on schools involved in disadvantaged areas. Locally based co-ordinators work in selected areas in developing parental involvement in their children's education and fostering positive relationships between the parents and the schools.

In June this year I announced a major new stay in school initiative. This will provide funding to targeted schools on the basis of plans which they will be helped to design themselves. My intention is to empower the schools themselves to tackle early school leaving. At the core of the initiative will be multi-annual retention plans drawn up by the individual schools and agreed with my Department. This will provide for a range of targeted measures directed at the particular needs of the individual schools, together with clear targets in terms of increased retention.

Two co-ordinators have been appointed to co-ordinate the initiative on a national basis, to assist schools in developing and implementing their plans and to liaise between schools and my Department. Fifty four post-primary schools have been invited to participate in the first phase of the project; this includes three schools in Waterford. At present my Department is awaiting responses from the schools who have been invited to participate. My Department will be in a position to identify participating schools as soon as these responses are received. It is expected that that further invitations will issue to schools to participate next year and again in 2001 and in 2002. The selection of schools for invitation to participate has been based on overall enrolment figures and the number of pupils failing to remain in school up to the completion of the senior cycle.