The Minister for Education and Science has said it is "frankly irresponsible" to let 16- to 18-year-olds leave school without qualifications and "mortgage their futures because we have a short-term need to fill certain types of jobs".
Speaking at the Opportunities '99 conference in Dublin yesterday, Mr Martin said he was particularly concerned for young people "attracted by low-paid, no-skill jobs" because "experience shows us that they run a very high risk of ending up in long-term poverty".
He said the recent proposal from the employers' body IBEC to raise the school-leaving age to 18 would not work because "the social and economic forces which can encourage a teenager to leave school as early as possible are powerful and unlikely ever to be completely countered".
The Minister suggested an alternative approach: 16- to 18-year-olds should be allowed to take jobs "only on condition that they attend for a certain minimum number of hours a week on a recognised education course". Legislation raising the school leaving age to 16 will be published shortly.
Mr Martin said it would be reasonable "to place an onus on employers to ensure that all under-18s who they employ are receiving this minimum education".
He conceded that this would work only if there were suitable courses available, but said he intended "moving on this new type of provision very shortly".
There are very few part-time courses available for this age group at present, other than for young people on apprenticeships or trainee-ships. Mr Martin may be planning to introduce a part-time version of the Leaving Certificate Applied, and to encourage VECs and others to put on courses to allow teenagers to take individual Leaving Certificate subjects. Stressing the importance of providing diverse courses and qualifications at all levels of education, Mr Martin also warned strongly against "the damaging effects of valuing only degrees at third level".
He said government policy was "stronger than ever behind a determination to avoid the kind of academic drift and degree snobbery which serves to undermine diversity of provision".