Combating "school failure" will be a major education priority during the Irish EU presidency, the Minister for education has promised, reports Paul Cullen.
Ms Breathnach said yesterday that failure at school, resulting in early drop outs, had long been acknowledged as an EU wide problem.
Building on recent work in the area, the Irish presidency would bring forward proposals to ensure a "more effective and cohesive" response to school failure in Europe, she promised.
In Ireland, about 12,000 teenagers drop out of school early with few or no qualifications and the problem is prevalent throughout western Europe.
Ms Breathnach was speaking yesterday following discussions with the EU Commissioner for Education and Training, Ms Edith Cresson, at the joint European Commission/Government meeting in Dublin Castle.
Irish officials are expected to shift the emphasis in dealing with school failure from remedial action, such as second chance education, to preventive measures such as pre-school education and the home school liaison scheme.