Two major initiatives are under way in different parts of the south-east to combat the growing problem of early school-leaving.
A multi-agency approach is being adopted in Kilkenny and Wexford with a view to identifying students at risk of dropping out early and providing the support necessary to keep them in full-time education.
The involvement of numerous agencies is recognition of the fact the problem cannot be tackled by the schools alone. As the principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School, Ms Cathy McSorley, says, students spend only 15 per cent of their time at school; the remaining 85 per cent is spent in the community. "There are many factors involved in people leaving school early. You have to address the wider community factors as well as the school factors if you're going to succeed," she says.
Mr Kevin Cronin, the early school-leaving project co-ordinator with Wexford Area Partnership, says the potential for the problem to develop "starts in the cradle. It doesn't start in fifth class or sixth class or first year."
The community-wide approach being adopted is an indication that, for the first time, there is an appreciation of the social consequences of a high drop-out rate, not just for the students, but for the community. This is particularly so in a region which has the second highest unemployment rate in the State. The most recent national labour force survey showed the south-east had an unemployment rate of 8 per cent, compared to a national average of 5.2 per cent, and second only to the Border region.
The south-east was also one of only two regions where the unemployment rate went up since the previous survey.
The initiative at Kilkenny City Vocational School is being co-ordinated by the local VEC and involves a range of voluntary, statutory and community bodies including the South Eastern Health Board, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce, FAS and the curriculum development unit of the Department of Education.
The agencies involved met on Monday to review progress and it is hoped to have the project running in the new year.
Already, however, teachers at the school have been working after hours on individualised education plans to meet the personal needs of each student and other measures designed to make the school environment as attractive as possible.
After-school support with homework and extra-curricular activities are also an important element of the scheme.
Ms McSorley says that while other regions have benefited from early school-leaving initiatives such as the home-school liaison scheme, the problem has not been addressed in a co-ordinated way in Kilkenny.
While the school is unwilling to discuss figures, it says early school-leaving is a growing problem. The same is true of Wexford where a survey carried out for the local Area Partnership found 150 people a year were dropping out of schools in Wexford town and surrounding areas before sitting the Leaving Cert.
The partnership drew up an action plan to address the issue and arising from that about 50 agencies, including school, parents' and community groups, have formed the Wexford Education Network, whose primary aim is to develop a community-wide local response to the problem.
"The complacency in Wexford about this problem is going at last," says Mr Cronin. "We're now in a position where if we can get the resources we need from the Department of Education to address early school-leaving, we can put them to best effect."
