John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 369: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of young people leaving school without a qualification; the breakdown for each of the 26 counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20901/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department's report on school retention, which was published on 31 March 2008, is based on a detailed analysis of the records held in the Post-Primary Pupils Database for the cohort of entrants to the first year of the junior cycle in 1999. The report is available on the Department's website, www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/pp_retention_1999_report.pdf. It must be noted that the figures refer to retention in State-aided second level schools only and do not include students progressing to further training and education at Junior or Leaving Certificate level, such as Youthreach courses, FÁS schemes, apprenticeship training as well as students in private, non-aided colleges at second level. The report shows that the national retention rate to completion of the Junior Certificate examination is 94.6%. The retention rate to completion of the Junior Certificate examination by county is given in table 5 of the report. The Government is determined to do all that is possible to ensure that every child gets all the opportunities and support they need to enable them to achieve their full potential and participate fully in education.

Steps designed to improve school attendance include the establishment of the National Educational Welfare Board in 2002, under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, with a remit to monitor school attendance, help parents to get a school place for their child and run promotional campaigns on the importance of attendance and finishing school. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. Under the terms of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, one of the functions of the Board is to conduct and commission research into the reasons for non-attendance on the part of students and into the strategies and programmes designed to prevent it. The Board has finalised the development of Guidelines for schools on developing Codes of Behaviour and work is commencing on the development of Guidelines on Attendance Strategies for Schools.

Enhancing attendance, progression, retention and attainment are central to DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the action plan for educational inclusion, which is being implemented at present in 873 schools comprising 670 primary schools (338 urban/town schools and 332 rural schools) and 203 second-level schools. A key objective of this action plan is to enhance integration and partnership working, both within the education sector itself and between all other relevant Government departments, agencies, organisations and groups. Under DEIS, my Department, through the network of ten regional offices is enhancing its capacity to work in partnership with locally based agencies and individuals promoting social inclusion measures.

Measures under DEIS range from pre-school interventions, supports for tackling children's literacy problems, reduced pupil teacher ratios, increased capitation grants, measures to tackle attendance and early school leaving and strengthen ties between the school, the family and the community. A key component of my Department's strategy to discriminate positively in favour of children and young people who are at risk of early school leaving is the School Completion Programme. This programme was implemented to directly target those in danger of dropping out of the education system and in line with current thinking favours an integrated cross-community and cross-sectoral approach based on the development of local strategies to ensure maximum participation levels in the education process. It entails targeting individual young people aged between four and 18, both in and out of school, and arranging supports to address inequalities in education access, participation and outcomes. In addition the Home School Community Liaison Scheme works to involve parents in their children's education which is a crucial component in convincing young people of the value of education.

In 2006 the National Behaviour Support Service was established. A National Co-ordinator and five Assistant National Co-ordinators have been appointed. In addition, ten Regional Development Officers and 14 part-time Associates were recruited to ensure the success of this significant initiative. A Research Officer has been appointed and will carry out research of current Irish and international literature and test against reality situations in Irish schools. This should provide an invaluable benchmark of the level of disruption in schools and the effectiveness of intervention by the NBSS. A full-time administrator is based in Navan Education Centre.

Since its appointment, the team has been working on a number of key issues, including the development of a Draft National Framework for Behaviour Improvement, the development of models of good practice for systems in schools which assist with and impact on classroom and whole school behaviour, ongoing training for the NBSS team and research into and communication with behaviour support systems in other jurisdictions. The NBSS is working with 50 selected schools throughout the country. Behaviour Support Classrooms have been established and staffed in 30 of these 50 schools. These classrooms provide an individualised intensive intervention programme for a targeted group of students. The Behaviour Support Classrooms are staffed by at least one qualified whole-time teacher. The Board of Management of the schools concerned have flexibility in respect of the employment of another whole-time teacher equivalent and may employ people with different expertise to cater for the needs of the students involved.

I emphasise that these classrooms cannot be, in themselves, a solution to the issue of poor student behaviour. They must be one part of a holistic response which should see a school, actively supported by the Behaviour Support Team, defining for itself a pathway to improvement. The NBSS also proposes to produce a training CD/DVD on all aspects of challenging behaviour, within the Irish context. It is envisaged that this would be available to all schools. A key feature of the composition of the National Behaviour Support Service is the assignment to it of a team of four psychologists. They have been seconded from the National Educational Psychological Service and their presence will ensure that the team operates in a multidisciplinary way. These measures are a clear indication of this Government's commitment to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk of poor attainment or of leaving school early.