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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 15 Nov 2001

Vol. 544 No. 2

Written Answers. - Third Level Drop-Out Rates.

Michael Creed

Ceist:

139 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps he proposes to take to tackle the drop-out rate at third level colleges. [28293/01]

The Educational Research Centre has completed two comprehensive studies on the extent of non-completion in both the universities and the institutes of technology. These quantitative studies provide analyses of data on non-completion by institution, gender and field of study. A further similar study has also been carried out by the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Following these studies, I requested the Higher Education Authority to host a national seminar on course completion in higher education. This seminar was held in May and provided an opportunity to consider the issues and trends arising from the recent studies against international experience and from the students' perspective. The need for qualitative research to be undertaken into the factors influencing non-completion was highlighted at the seminar and the ERC has been requested to undertake qualitative research in both the university and technological sectors to identify the underlying causes of non-completion with a view to developing and improving strategies to deal with the issue.

In the meantime, there is a range of strategies and measures in place to tackle non-completion at both national and institutional level. In the university sector, the Higher Education Authority allocated £400,000 or 500,000 in 2000 for specific initiatives designed to improve retention rates. There will be further allocations in 2001 and 2002 for this initiative. The measures funded include development of mentoring and study skills programmes, counselling services for new entrants and information packs for schools. Other initiatives developed by universities include orientation programmes, life skills modules and the appointment of academic counsellors, access officers, school liaison officers and mature student officers. The quantitative study undertaken by the ERC recommended that each university develop explicit policies on retention and I have asked the Higher Education Authority to review these policies.
In the institute of technology sector, the council of directors has established a national committee on retention with representatives from each Institute to focus on maximising success rates for students. The committee has assembled a profile of current good practice in relation to retention across the sector and the profile has been made available to all the institutes.
Since 1999 additional funding has been provided to the technological sector to address the area of non-completion. This funding has supported the appointment of retention officers and schools liaison officers, provision of additional advisory services including counselling, academic support and career guidance, the establishment of staff training seminars, upgrading of orientation programmes and the expansion of mentoring programmes.
I am committed to tackling the issue of non-completion in third level education and have requested the Higher Education Authority and the council of directors to expedite the qualitative research.
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