Brendan Howlin
Ceist:150 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures, if any, he will take to reduce the number of early school leavers without any qualifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3177/00]
Written Answers. - Early School Leavers.
Increasing the retention rate to completion of senior cycle is a key education priority. Strategies to tackle this objective have included widening the educational experience available to students by expanding funding for new programmes such as the leaving cert applied and implementing a scheme targeted at those in danger of dropping out of school between eight and 15. These measures have been successful but do not represent a complete answer to this complex problem.
Last summer my Department announced a major new stay in school initiative. This marks a significant departure from traditional policy in that funding will be granted to schools on the basis of plans which they will be helped to design themselves. The underlying objective of the initiative is to establish a direct link between schools experiencing serious retention problems and my Department with a view to agreeing multi-annual programmes of action with clear targets, which will be matched with appropriate resources. The core point of the initiative is that schools themselves need to take charge of tackling early school leaving and I will give them the supports they need to make an impact. In this regard I should add that my Department has appointed two experienced school principals who will co-ordinate the initiative and assist participating schools to formulate their retention plans and targets.
In inviting applications for the initial phase of the initiative, priority was given to schools and VEC schemes with retention rates appreciably below the national average, 58 schools are participating in this phase. I expect that the number of schools participating will be expanded in 2000 and subsequent years. Schools will be selected for invitation based on their retention rate and over all enrolment. My intention is to include as many pupils as possible who are at risk of early school leaving in the initiative.