Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

26 ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE?State Examinations Commission (SEC) data). This gives us noncompletionrates of 37 per cent for LCA and 12 per cent for LCE/LCVPfor those who entered senior cycle in 2005/6.Table 3.3: Estimates of Non-completion by LC ProgrammeYear 1 of LC Programme: LCA LCE/LCVP2004/5 33.7 13.22005/6 37.1 11.7Source: Department of Education and Science Statistical Report; State ExaminationsCommission examination data.It should be noted that these patterns cannot be interpreted as sayingthat LCA contributes to early school leaving. In fact, the contrary may bethe case. The factors which influence participation in LCA are likely to bethe factors which also influence the likelihood of early school leaving.Thus, analyses in Chapter 4 indicate that LCA students are indeeddisproportionately drawn from those groups of young people at risk ofearly leaving – having experienced more difficulty with schoolwork duringjunior cycle and holding more negative attitudes to school before enteringLCA. The difficulty is in establishing whether students are less likely todrop out of school having taken part in the LCA programme since wecannot compare ‘like with like’ in comparing LCA and LCE outcomes.However, data from the School Leavers’ Survey yield some insight into theattitudes among early leavers and the reasons they give for leaving school atthis stage.Figure 3.15 compares attitudes to school among young people whocompleted LCA and those who left before completion. Early leavers hadmore negative attitudes to their teachers: they were more likely to reportthat their teachers did not care about them and less likely to report thattheir teachers helped them and listened to their views. In addition, theywere somewhat less likely to see discipline within school as fair. Peereffects were also evident: early leavers were more likely to experience acontext where the class was disorderly and where their friends did not takeschoolwork seriously. They were also less likely themselves to considerschoolwork worth doing.Figure 3.15: Attitudes to School Among LCA Completers and Non-CompletersGo to teacher with problemTeachers listenedTeachers didn't careTeachers helpedDiscipline fairToo many troublemakersLCA drop-outsLCA completersNo order in classFriends took school seriouslySchoolwork worth doing0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100%Source: School Leavers’ Survey, various years; all differences significant at p