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Education Minister Ruairí Quinn has today published the “Report on Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools” conducted by the Department.

The percentage of students who sit the Leaving Cert overall has risen by almost 9% to 90.2% in 11 years.

It also shows that the number of young men staying on at second-level has risen dramatically by 16% in the same period.

The report, published on the Department’s website, presents the retention rates of pupils who entered the first year of the junior cycle in 2005 and 2006.

Commenting on the report, Minister Quinn said:

I am extremely heartened to see the significant increase in the number of young men staying on to complete the senior cycle.

It is also very encouraging to see the increased retention rate in DEIS schools. For those who entered second level in 2001 to 2006, the average Leaving Certificate retention rate in these schools increased substantially, from 68.2% to 80.1%.

88.7% of males are staying on to sit their Leaving Cert, according to today’s report. A small gap remains between the sexes with 91.8% of females completing second level. However, the gap is narrowing, standing at 3% now compared with 9% five years ago.

Minister Quinn continued:

The contraction in the labour market has meant that for many young people there are more reasons to stay on in education, but it is also important to recognise measures taken by this Department. The extra resources provided to the 200 second level schools under DEIS and programmes like the School Completion Programme have certainly also played their part.

In terms of geographical spread, County Kilkenny has the highest retention rate in the country at 94.17%, followed by County Roscommon at 93.96%.

There is further good news in the report which shows that last year the proportion of early school leavers in Ireland was 10.6%, down from 13% in 2004, and well below the EU average of 14%.

Ireland also has one of the highest proportions of persons aged 20-24 with at least a higher secondary education in the EU. Ireland’s rate of 87% is significantly above the EU average of 80%.