14 June 2001

REPORT ON EDUCATION PATTERNS WELCOMED

EDUCATION Minister Martin McGuinness has welcomed the publication of a Department of Education report about educational participation and achievement for disadvantaged individuals and groups.

The report, which examines data on participation in schools, explores the academic achievements of school leavers and looks at the first destinations of pupils leaving school.

Mr McGuinness said: “The ‘New Targeting Social Need Action Plan’ sets out a range of measures aimed at tackling the problem of social need and social exclusion among children and young people. The Action Plan commits us to collating, analysing and disseminating existing information on education participation, achievement and outcomes for disadvantaged individuals and groups.”

The Minister went on to say: “The report reveals some quite encouraging trends, for example, a marked increase in the proportion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds participating in pre-school provision and improvements in the qualifications achieved by pupils at schools which have the highest proportion of children entitled to free school meals.

“I also welcome the narrowing of the gap between the qualification levels achieved by pupils at Catholic schools and pupils at other schools.”

However, the report also throws up areas, particularly for children in disadvantaged groups, which need radical policy changes.

The Minister acknowledged there continues to be a large disparity between the achievements of pupils entitled to free school meals and pupils in mainstream education. Specifically, pupils entitled to free school meals continue to achieve less well than other pupils.

Another area of disparity arises from the low participation of Traveller children in pre-school provisions and the number of Traveller pupils who remain at school to complete their secondary education after Year 12.

The report, the minister added, indicates there remains much to be done but will act as a blueprint that will provide base-line information against which they will be able to measure future progress.” (AMcE)