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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 5

Written Answers. - Early School Leavers.

Seán Haughey

Question:

503 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures he is taking to prevent early school leaving; the role his Department plays in dealing with specific cases; the options available to an early school leaver who is too young for the youthreach programme and who has literacy problems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23085/00]

I am very concerned with the issue of early school leaving. The main focus of my Department in relation to early school leaving is to have the particular pupil return to school as quickly as possible. In this regard, my Department liaises with the school authorities with a view to having the pupil returned to his-her former school or securing an alternative suitable school placement. Each case, which comes to the attention of my Department, is treated on an individual basis having regard to the child's educational needs.

To combat the problem of early school leaving, I have initiated a programme comprising both legislative measures and special targeted initiatives.

The recently enacted Education Welfare Act, 2000 will replace and reform current school attendance legislation. The Act provides for the establishment of the National Educational Welfare Board to co-ordinate and implement services for children in difficulty within the school system on a national basis. An educational welfare officer will be assigned to every school for the purposes of the Act. The Act requires schools to draw up school attendance strategies in order to promote regular attendance and to foster an appreciation of learning among the students. The strategy will focus on arrangements for the identification of children who are at risk of dropping out of school at an early stage so that appropriate interventions may be put in place. Planning for the implementation of the Act is currently under way in my Department.
In relation to targeted initiatives, a number of pilot projects were introduced in selected primary schools including the Early Start pre-school project, Breaking the Cycle and support teacher project. At second level, curricular reform, including the introduction of the junior certificate school programme, the transition year programme and the leaving certificate applied, has increased the range of options available to meet young people's educational needs.
More recently, the eight to 15 year old early school leaver initiative and the stay-in-school retention initiative were introduced. One of the key objectives of the eight to 15 year old early school leaver initiative 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. In addition, a key focus of actions under the eight to 15 year old early school leaver initiative is on targeting young people in the eight to 15 year old age group who have already left school, focused on their progression over time from an alternative form of provision to mainstream schools. The initiative, which involves 17 specific projects in 14 areas, was originally introduced for the school years 1998-99 and 1999-2000. I have decided to extend the existing 17 projects for a further phase, for the period 1 July 2000 until 31 August 2002.
The stay-in-school retention initiative at second level marks a significant departure from traditional policy in that funding is being granted to targeted schools, on the basis of plans which they were helped to design themselves. The purpose of this initiative is to prevent early school leaving and raise senior cycle completion rates.
I am currently working on proposals for a major new scheme aimed at addressing educational disadvantage at primary level. This scheme will target those areas with the greatest needs in order to maximise participation and the potential for achievement in education. The supports will involve a mixture of additional teachers and resources. I will be making a further announcement in this regard shortly.
The national educational psychological service – NEPS – is available to advise on the management of difficulties which pupils might experience and which may present problems in a school setting. Where appropriate it can also advise on any educational supports, which might be required to ensure that a pupils time in school is as productive as possible. At primary level, my Department has introduced a range of improvements in the level and quality of special education supports. There are currently 1,480 remedial teachers and the equivalent of 560 resource teachers in primary schools.
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