Are current structures of schooling in Ireland appropriate for all our young people?

Ireland was a relative latecomer to free second level education for all. Whereas most Western countries introduced mass second level schooling soon after the Second World War, it was 1967 before Donagh O'Malley, the then Minister for Education, introduced free second-level education to Ireland. In terms of enrolment statistics, the scheme was a great success. Within a decade, enrolment in second level schools had doubled and by the late 1990s the numbers had trebled. By the end of the 20th century, 97% of the relevant cohort were completing junior cycle (up from 44% in the mid 1960s) and over 80% sat a Leaving Certificate (up from about 20%). However, concern has been expressed in recent years that the numbers taking Leaving Certificate have remained at around 83% during the past decade despite a plethora of government interventions and supports for those at risk of early school leaving. During the first twenty years of free second level education, it became clear that the Leaving Certificate programme which had been inherited from earlier decades was inappropriate for many of the pupils now staying on for senior cycle education. At individual school and VEC level, a number of innovative curriculum developments were introduced. Shannon Curriculum Unit made a particular contribution with its Senior Certificate - a programme which subsequently influenced the development of the Leaving Certificate Applied. The introduction of the Leaving Certificate Applied at national level in the mid 1990s has been a particularly effective intervention and it has been widely recognised as providing a suitable alternative programme for pupils who had failed to achieve under the established Leaving Certificate programme. The modular approach of the LCA and its emphasis on task-based and ongoing assessment has provided an incentive for many young people to remain in school where they might previously have dropped out because of the irrelevance for them of the established Leaving Certificate programme.