Jack Wall
Question:144 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science the percentage of students opting for the leaving certificate applied course each year since its inception; and his views on these trends. [23011/01]
Written Answers. - State Examinations.
The leaving certificate applied was first introduced to schools for the school year 1995-96 following extensive consultation and a strong recommendation from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The following table shows the number of students taking the leaving certificate applied in schools in year one of the programme as a percentage of the total cohort from 1995-96 up to 2000-01 – the most recent school year for which the uptake figures are available.
|
1995-1996 |
1996-1997 |
1997-1998 |
1998-1999 |
1999-2000 |
2000-2001 |
|
1,222 |
2,778 |
3,351 |
3,929 |
4,054 |
4,250 |
|
1.93% |
4.25% |
5.16% |
6.14% |
6.62% |
7.31% |
The figures have risen from 1,222 or just under 2% of the total cohort in 1995-96 to 4,250 or 7.3% of the total cohort in the 2000-01 school year. While I do not believe the leaving certificate applied is being taken, as yet, by the full number of students who could benefit from it, the fact that figures have more than tripled since the inception of the programme is very heartening. Efforts are being made by my Department and by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in a variety of ways to increase participation in this excellent programme. These include additional teaching supports, the continued work of the eight person support service in schools, the constant adaptation of the programme to make it more student friendly and the launch of a promotional video.
Overall, evidence indicates that the leaving certificate applied is impacting positively on retention rates. There is little doubt that in the absence of the programme, many students currently taking it would not complete senior cycle.