John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I appreciate the fact that she has given a timeframe for the strategy. I encourage her to engage in as broad a consultation process as possible. The school completion programme to date has been successful but it does not mean we can be complacent and that there are no new challenges. It is worth noting that the most recent figures available indicate that about nine out of ten students complete second level education. Unfortunately, particular problems arise in the DEIS schools where one in five students do not complete school. I hope that the focus of the new programme will look specifically at DEIS schools. It is interesting, when one looks at the DEIS schools, that the gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools in getting to students to junior certificate is only 3%. Some 94% complete their junior certificate in DEIS schools and 97% get to junior certificate in non-DEIS schools. When they get to the leaving certificate, however, there is a 10% gap. The review needs to focus very strongly on that period from junior certificate to leaving certificate. Those students who do transition year are also more likely to complete their schooling compared with those who do not do transition year.

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