I left school at 16 to get a apprentice as a bricklayer as did a lot of my peers, some plasterers, carpenters etc. Work is picking up a bit now. There is nothing wrong with leaving school if you have the will to work and achieve in a trade. I know that now you would have little chance of getting picked up as a apprentice in any building trade, or getting a job in any minimum wage job with so many c.v’s flying through the letter box of the advertiser of the job. So I would say in this era for people to stay in secondary school until the end and if they can go to college aswell go for it. At least after its done you have your degree or your leaving cert then you can go on the search for a job minimum wage or not, at least you have something behind you for the future. Just my thoughts.

Dead right Paddy. I reckon your kids should be first in line for low skilled, low paid work or no work at all. I’ll hang on to the useless degree option for my kids though, thanks all the same.

Having grown up in a “disadvantaged” area and now working with “disadvantaged” teenagers (sorry for the quotes, but I hate the labelling!!)
Its about changing a culture and mindset!
Having parents that believe in education and are encouraging to their children is the majority of the battle for these kids…there are so many financial and personal supports in these areas, but only a few take them up.

We probably need less people going to University if we’re honest about it and a return to the traditional skills of our forefathers.

The amount of people with useless Arts & English & History Degrees these days in incredible!

Yea these children need encouragement and the same right to ownership of education which they sometimes
feel lack of entitlement towards – like they are treated differently within the system then their middle class peers.
So even when there are financial access measures introduced these measures do not work because the circumstance in which they might succeed are not created.

These children need to be treated the same – just as entitled.

People say that we need brickeys and carpenters – well yea but there are surely a few middle class wasters in second and third level who would be better of in an apprentiship – its not about that – its about a fair playing field
so that those who would succeed at 3rd level actually want to do the leaving and go to college ( this is cultural)

So its great that kids in general are staying in school longer but the truth is that lots are being left behind due to cultural disadvantages – like the feeling of a lack of entitlement which policy and research could improve.
The majority of the prison population have never at a state exam and so maybe we should stop building prisons to fill and put some effort in to places where the govt know well it would make a massive and very real difference.