Teacher unions and the Opposition parties have reacted with dismay to new figures which show a continuing high school drop-out rate, especially in poorer areas.
The report found that one in 12 schools in have a drop-out rate of more than 50 per cent. It also reveals that 40 per cent of students leave school before the Junior Certificate.
Boys are much more likely to drop out than girls: 28 per cent of males go before the Leaving Cert, compared with just over 12 per cent of girls.
The Department of Education report tracks students who started in second-level schools a decade ago.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said the overall picture was broadly unchanged, and she pointed to a fall in the drop-out rate in the vocational sector. She also highlighted recent Government initiatives including the establishment of the school attendance group, the National Education Welfare Board.
However Fine Gael's education spokeswoman Olwyn Enright said the new report highlighted eight years of Government inaction on educational disadvantage.
Labour's Seanad spokeswoman on education, Senator Joanna Tuffy, said the Republic "has the dubious honour of having one of the highest quit rates in second-level education in the first world. This unacceptable level of early school-leaving reflects the Government's absolute inaction in tackling educational disadvantage."
TUI president Paddy Healy said the figures were an indictment of inequality in Irish society and highlighted the case for urgent targeted investment. He also criticised the Department of Education and Science for failing to issue revised criteria for determining disadvantage.
"TUI conservatively estimates that at least 100 second-level schools serving disadvantaged communities do not have disadvantaged status."
ASTI general secretary John White said the report raised the whole issue of the under-funding of second-level education in Ireland.
"The gross under-investment in Irish second-level education places Ireland 21st out of 27 OECD countries in terms of spending per second-level student. This percentage of funding is nowhere near other countries and steps must be taken in the forthcoming budget to redress this imbalance."
