Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 May 2017
147. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the drop-out rate in third-level institute of technology courses; his plans to remedy the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24956/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Higher Education Authority has recently published (April 2017) it's latest Study of Progression in Irish Higher Education, which provides an analysis of data relating to non-progression of 2013/14 full-time undergraduate new entrants to HEA funded institutions. The study shows that the proportion of new entrants in 2013/14 who did not progress is 15% across all sectors and NFQ levels. This compares to 16% in 2012/13. The rates of non-progression vary within and between sectors.
Below average progression rates continue in the fields of Construction and Related, Services, Computer Science and Engineering with again variation between sectors and institutions. However, there is some improvement reported in progression rates for Computer Science with rates increasing from 80% to 84%. Institutes of technology rates have increased from 74% to 80% compared to universities from 85% to 88%. This would indicate that the funding made available for retention measures is having a positive impact.
The National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education, 2015-19, is the national policy framework for promoting access to, and successful completion of, higher education for students from groups that are currently under-represented in higher education. The vision of the National Access Plan is to ensure that the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population. The Plan contains 5 key goals and 28 actions that are scheduled for implementation in the period 2015 - 2019. One of the actions is to address non-completion among the student population with a particular emphasis on ‘access’ students.
This action is currently underway. The Higher Education Authority (HEA) have produced a discussion paper on the factors that contribute to ‘student success’. A Working Group has also been established, which is chaired by the HEA, and which comprises representatives from across the higher education sector. The intention is to identify the type of strategies and measures that have been shown to be successful in different institutional contexts. The National Forum for the enhancement of Teaching and Learning is currently facilitating a focussed scoping exercise to inform the activities of the Working Group. The scoping exercise is being chaired by the Union of Students of Ireland. This will ensure that the student voice is central to this process. It is expected that the Working Group will produce its report by the end of 2017.
Furthermore, in 2013, Ireland launched it's first Irish Survey of Student Engagement (ISSE) to take the views of students into account, particularly when looking at rates of non-progression. The results of the ISSE survey will continue to guide future policy decisions on retention across all years of higher education.
