Greater access to guidance and counselling in schools and significant changes at third level, including increases in the higher education maintenance grant, are among the recommendations made in a new report issued by the National Centre for Guidance in Education.
The report examines reasons for high non-completion rates among students in the IT and university sectors and suggests a variety of ways to deal with the issue, which is of increasing concern.
Recent research in the IT sector shows a non-completion rate of 37 per cent. In the university sector, meanwhile, it is estimated that up to 19 per cent of students drop out. The report, entitled Proceedings from Staying Power - A Colloquium on Increasing Retention Rates in Higher Education, finds that students fail to complete courses for a variety of reasons. Many of these are guidance, or academic, related. Some students leave because of financial constraints, others to take up paid employment or to pursue other courses of study. Good quality guidance counselling at second level is vital and the ratio of guidance counsellors to pupils needs to be reduced to 1:250, the report stresses.
At third level, students need a better guidance system and more academic supports. "Clear procedures are required for giving students regular feedback on their performance," the report suggests. "Academic staff may need training in communication skills . . . The institutions need to adopt a holistic approach to the student and help the student to develop personally as well as academically."
The report also recommends the development of new models for integrated induction and orientation programmes. These should include elements on management, self-management, learning styles, self-directed learning and library/research and note-taking skills. Students, too, would benefit from the introduction of comprehensive student support structures - personal tutors for all students, student peer support and study skills programmes, for example. Students entering third level with academic skills problems should be provided with additional supports.
Many first-year students find themselves on courses which they dislike or to which they are unsuited. According to the report, students should be allowed to repeat or change courses. "Facility should be increased for changing an inappropriate course choice within an institution. The third-level institutions need to look at partnership arrangements and the development of an integrated system for better transfer opportunities between institutions."
A standardised tracking system for recording data on student performance across the ITs is necessary. Students who have dropped out should continue to receive support from their institutions.
Many students are now working long hours in part-time jobs and the report suggest that the ITs provide a "placement agency" service which would assist students in finding part-time work in sectors relating to their areas of study. Increases in the higher education maintenance grant are vital for low income students and extra supports should be provided for students studying in high-cost-of-living areas - Dublin, for example.
Last year, the former Minister for Education and Science, Micheal Martin allocated £1.5 million to the ITs and the DIT to support measures to address non-completion rates. As a result, the institutes have introduced a range of initiatives and it is expected that every IT will have appointed an access officer by the year's end. Meanwhile, the HEA has invited the universities to submit proposals to address the non-completion issue and promises a response later in the year.
