‘One size fits’ all approach to education a major factor in early school leaving Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science [oireachtas.ie]
- Published: 25 May 2010
The ‘one size fits all’ instruction and assessment approach in Ireland’s current school system is fundamentally wrong, does not facilitate many young people to grow or demonstrate and realize their full range of talents and skills and is a major contributory factor in early school leaving, particularly among boys, according to a new report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science.
Early school leaving and its related problems of poverty, deprivation and exclusion should be understood in a holistic context that is much broader than the education system, the report Staying in Education: A New Way Forward – School and out of School Factors Protecting Against Early School Leaving says.
The Department of Education and Skills needs to develop policy that strongly discourages streaming, or separating students along purely academic lines, at least in the first and second years, it found. Policy should be targeted particularly at schools in disadvantaged communities and all schools where boys are enrolled, according to the report which carried out 41 interviews with individuals and groups dealing with early school leaving and which had input from a 25-member expert group of practitioners and researchers.
Full Story: www.oireachtas.ie
