Disadvantaged secondary students ‘excluded’ from higher level subjects

Thousands of secondary students in poorer areas attend schools were no one is  studying higher level subjects such as maths, English and Irish, new figures show.

Labour’s education spokesman Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD said the numbers expose how many disadvantaged students are being “excluded” from access to professions such as primary teaching and third level degrees courses which require passes in higher level subjects.

"This shows the shocking scale of the barriers which these students are facing," Mr Ó Ríordáin said. "It means not one of the students in these schools will become a primary teacher."

He said it is likely schools are not providing access to higher level subjects due to low perceived demand or other factors such as scarce resources or teacher shortages.

In all, there are almost 200 Deis secondary schools in disadvantaged areas which receive additional State supports.

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Latest official figures show that 41 of these schools do not have any student studying higher level Irish, 39 do not have higher level maths and 31 do not have higher level English.

He was speaking during a meeting of the Oireachtas education committee which heard calls for reform of the senior cycle to better engage disadvantaged young people and improve their outcomes.

Senior cycle review

Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon expressed concern that the current Leaving Cert is not preparing students for life beyond education and that high stakes exams were causing a disproportionate level of mental stress among young people.

While he said the Department of Education has commissioned a review of the senior cycle, any changes will not come into being until at least 2030.

He said this “suggests a lack of urgency and affords too much time for arguing, procrastination and unnecessary delays while all the time students come and go through a system we know is not optimal for them.”

He said the voices of students must stay centre-stage in the reform process and he endorsed calls for greater diversity in assessment methods to “capture and reward students’ diverse learning abilities, and not just their memory”.

Allowing students to secure up to 50 or 60 per cent of available marks prior to sitting down to do the final exam would ease students’ stress significantly, he said.

Children’s charity Barnardos said young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are “not on the same playing field” when it comes to sitting the Leaving Cert.

Students from stable backgrounds have expectations to progress to third level with emotionally, educationally and financially supportive environments.

However, those from less well-off homes cannot afford private tutoring and do not have the same access to areas conducive to study.

Skill development

Barnardos chief executive Suzanne Connolly said it was no surprise, then, that while 90-100 per cent of school leavers in affluent areas go to college, this falls to as low as 26 per cent in areas of socio-economic disadvantage.

She said there should be a greater focus on practical and technical skill development.

“This would help broaden future employment and development opportunities for all students,” she said.

The Children Rights Alliance, meanwhile, said it is crucial that children and young people are consulted in a meaningful way on how the Leaving Certificate should be reformed.

Tanya Ward, chief executive of the alliance, said the Irish Second-level Students Union was the only organisation representing the voices of young people at the discussions with education partners on school closures.

They had an important role to play in shaping a reformed senior cycle which meets their needs, she said.