School drop-out rate - Keep our kids off the scrap heap [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 15 February 2010
TODAY’S front-page report, showing that one in four teenagers in some second-level schools are dropping out before the Leaving Certificate, is a wake-up call for the Government.
It comes as no surprise that the drop-out rate is worst in disadvantaged urban areas, where poor funding and large class sizes are an ongoing problem for pupils, teachers and parents alike. Marked progress in student retention has been made in the past decade as Government spending on disadvantage focused on schools serving deprived communities. But the latest statistics indicate the drop-out rate remains unacceptable, underlining the need for state investment in neglected areas.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
School leavers left out on the margins [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 15 February 2010
THE Youthreach system, which offers second-chance education to early school leavers, is in crisis as most centres have at least one person is waiting for a place for every four students, their managers have claimed.
While almost 3,700 15- to 20-year-olds were catered for in the centres operated by city and county Vocational Educaiton Committees (VECs) last year, only 400 of the 1,000 additional places promised in the Towards 2016 social partnership deal have been provided since 2007.
But the National Association of Youthreach Co-ordinators (NAYC) reports that 90% of the 103 centres funded by the Department of Education are full and had waiting lists averaging 10 young people before Christmas. However, it has found that those lists have increased again since the start of 2010.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
One-in-four leave VEC education early [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 15 February 2010
MORE than one-in-four teenagers are dropping out from some second-level schools before the Leaving Certificate.
This is despite major improvements in student retention in the last decade.
Government spending on disadvantage has been largely focused on schools in deprived areas, with vocational schools and community colleges run by city or county Vocational Education Committees (VECs) likely to enrol a higher proportion of children from poorer families.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
‘You can’t put a value on getting an education’ [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 15 February 2010
THE Ballincollig Youthreach centre has more people trying to get in than are already learning for the first time in director Eric McNally’s six years of working there.
He has noticed the waiting list spiral since the autumn and now there are 40 people hoping to start training there compared with 35 students currently being taught.
Like around 100 other such centres funded by the Department of Education around the country, it offers second-chance education for young people aged 15 to 20 who left school early without any qualifications or vocational training.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
Fears over safety of teaching site [Herald.ie]
- Published: 15 February 2010
An official probe should establish whether children in Northern Ireland were harmed by a teaching website run by a paedophile, the education minister has said.
Caitriona Ruane launched the review after Samuel Kinge, 28, from Worcestershire, was jailed for a second time last month for downloading abusive images of children.
He had been running the Sparklebox teaching and parenting resource website used in thousands of schools across the UK.
Full Story: www.herald.ie
