Mr. Frank Jones:

I thank the Senator. I will speak on academic preparedness of students entering higher education and my sector, which is the university sector. The Senator is correct that the rates of dropout are high in some subject areas. The drop-out rate in first year can be up to 60% and 80% in third level computing and engineering courses. That is far too high. The possibility of having more preliminary subjects in first year and a reduction in the number of subjects were mentioned. This stems from the theme of this meeting, which has been trying to distinguish between the leaving certificate and the points race. There is a view that if a student get points for a subject, which are set by demand and supply, that student is wasting an opportunity is he or she does not enter that field, which may not be the area for him or her at all. The word "decoupling" was used and Professor Hyland's report was referred to. There needs to be a decoupling. Much of this goes back to career guidance and the stuff we talked about earlier. I hope that answers the question.