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There are four broad reasons why we are concerned. Firstly, in a society which espouses
notions of educational inequality, to have one in four leaving with inadequate qualifications
is unacceptable. Secondly, where we are attempting to achieve the Lisbon goals and raise
the qualifications of the workforce, such high levels of early school leaving undermine our
capacity to reach our goals. Thirdly, we are aware of the implications of low qualifications
for a person’s labour market history. S/he is more likely to be unemployed, his/her job will
be lower paid and more precarious, if made redundant s/he will have to wait longer and
search harder for a new job and it, in turn, will be lower paid and more precarious than
others. The possibility of social exclusion follows. Finally, we are also aware of various
morbid correlations and associations with early school leaving.
There are three broad strands to our response. The first is at the level of service
architecture. We are attempting to create a climate of collaboration and child-centredness
that transcends service and sectoral boundaries. The second is a range of preventive
measures and structures in the social services and in schools, such as the DEIS initiative 2 .
The third strand is out of-school measures, principally the Youthreach programme and a
range of non-formal youth services and projects.
These strands are expressed in a range of policy statements such as the national
partnership agreement Towards 2016, the National Development Plan 2007-2013 and the
National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-16. We have also attempted to create
transversal mechanisms linking the various Ministries with responsibility for services to
young people, in particular the Office of the Minister for Children. We have also been
setting a broad framework of legislation to govern the delivery of services to young people.
This marks a significant change from the past when the governance framework comprised
a plethora of disconnected legislation and ministerial orders and directives.
Unlike most other European countries, the municipalities do not have a direct role in
Further Education or in the delivery of social services or training for young people. In
general, the Irish system emphasises general education to upper secondary level and early
vocational choice is discouraged. For early school leavers, Youthreach is the principal
response. Vocational Education Committees (VECs) are the key delivery and coordination
agencies for Further Education. Thanks to the development of the NFQ, qualifications are
now a unifying framework.
Youthreach has been called the education and training system’s flexible friend. It was
first established in 1988 to deliver the Social Guarantee. It is a national programme but
delivery is devolved to the local level. It is built on three phases - Engagement, Foundation,
Progression. It is managed at national level by two Ministries, Education and Science and
Enterprise, Trade and Employment. There is a strong emphasis on inter-sectoral and interagency
work, though it is acknowledged that this is difficult to implement. The programme
is delivered in 90 centres for education and 43 Community Training Centres throughout the
country. These are small out-of-school units with fulltime and part-time staff.
Youthreach targets early school leavers, that is, young people aged 15-20 with poor
qualifications who are out-of-school and not in employment. Of participants, 15 % are
2 See www.education.ie
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