Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 April 2019
77. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who left primary school in summer 2018 that failed to enrol in a second-level school in September 2018; the corresponding figures in each of the years 2014 to 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15699/19]
View answerThe introduction of the Primary Online Database (POD) has facilitated the monitoring of pupils as they move through the primary education system and on to post primary. The system was first introduced in September 2014 and it became fully operational in September 2016 when it formed the basis for the annual school census. Accordingly, the earliest it has been possible to join the primary and post-primary school systems at a pupil level is for those pupils who left primary school in June 2017 and entered the post-primary system in September 2017.
The Department has recently begun an exercise of linking pupils from 6th class in primary schools in June 2017 and June 2018 to entrants to post-primary schools in September 2017 and September 2018 respectively. This data matching exercise will assist the department in understanding the transitions from the primary to the post-primary system, and allow an assessment of likely future demand for post-primary places at a fine geographic level.
This work is at an advanced stage and is being finalised at present. We will forward the data requested by the Deputy once it is complete. Data for years earlier than 2017 will not be available.
