According to a survey of teachers, the programmes at primary and second level are not meeting the needs of many pupils who attend schools in a Dublin working class urban area that is badly affected by drug misuse, crime and high unemployment. The teachers surveyed at primary level say that poor attendance, learning difficulties and various home factors are major problems, and the influence of parents on pupils is far greater than the influence of teachers.
A total of 81 primary teachers and 53 second-level teachers were surveyed as part of a project that aims to improve the access of local people to mainstream education and other training programmes. A report, entitled Making Connections, Access To Education In Ballyfermot, including this survey of teachers, was launched in Dublin yesterday by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.
The research was carried out by Aoife Casby on behalf of the Ballyfermot Partnership which aims to accelerate and maximise the social and economic development options of local people.
According to the primary teachers, it's necessary to adapt the curriculum to the children's needs and to their cultural experiences. Some 60 per cent of those surveyed said the curriculum was not suitable for those they taught. "There is not enough social and personal development or practical and cultural education in the curriculum," says the report. "Due to difficulties with language skills that pupils experience, subjects like maths and Irish are difficult teach. There is a need for a refocusing on literacy and language skills."
In 1992, fewer than 6 per cent of the eligible cohort with a Dublin 10 address went on to third-level education. In the 1995/6 academic year 240 young people left school early in Ballyfermot - almost 12 per cent of the total school enrolment. The national norm is 3.3 per cent. The educational or other destination of many is not known.
"More attention must be paid to the process by which a young person comes to leave school early," Casby concludes. "Although some of the research makes tough reading, I feel that it's important to emphasise that a lot of positive things are happening in relation to education in Ballyfermot."
Second-level teachers surveyed said factors in the home are crucial in motivating a pupil to continue in education. The most common problems that have to be dealt with are, they say, lack of home support, bad attendance rates, problems with homework, literacy, lack of concentration and motivation, lack of interest in education, hatred of learning and lack of confidence and low self-esteem.
Casby's research also lists the six main reasons given by teachers in primary schools in Ballyfermot for poor attendance. They blame lack of parental interest, illness, family problems, poor parenting skills, children's attitude to school and school itself.
"Teachers do acknowledge that there are issues in school which affect attendance rates," the report continues. "The main issue they say is the lack of an adequate attendance service, but they also say pupils' needs are not being met, the classes are too large, pupils are getting into trouble through inapprorpriate behaviour and they do not attend because of having been suspended."
The report refers to classes being too big, especially at junior primary level. "The pupil/teacher ratio is too high and must be lowered. Some of the schools experience difficulties in relation to space within which classes take place." This physical environment is not conducive to teaching or learning.
Transition to second level causes problems for many pupils and families, the report states. Teachers say that certain steps should be considered at national and local level, including contact between fifth and sixth class students and second-level schools in the area.
According to second-level teachers, "the curricula are not meeting the needs of many pupils in schools and teachers feel that students have not got the necessary coping mechanisms, study skills, ambition, motivation or home support. They also feel that special education at second-level must be re-evaluated.
Teachers cite factors at home and issues in relation to parents and young people seeking employment as the most significant factors in relation to pupils leaving school early.
