Pupils who leave school early do so for a variety of reasons, according to Scott Boldt, author of Here My Voice - A Longitudinal Study of the Post-School Experiences of Early School-Leavers in Ireland. These include home background influences, school-related factors, the opportunity to work or earn money by participating in a training programme and pressure from peers. However, most school-leavers cite school experiences as the main reason for leaving school early, he says.

Contrary to popular opinion, says Boldt, a researcher at the Marino Institute of Education in Dublin, leaving school early does not as a matter of course lead to a life of drug abuse, crime or long-term unemployment. The study of some 140 early school-leavers in Dublin, Dundalk, Edenderry and Kilkenny shows that many early school-leavers "are fine and getting on with their lives," he says. At the time of interview, half of the early school-leavers were involved in education or training programmes and almost one third were in employment.

Boldt points out that, while there is a shortfall in the current provision for early school-leavers, both the formal and the informal programmes are failing to meet the needs of some of them. "What do we do about the ones who aren't suited to any system? Do we just ignore them? We have to keep them in the net somehow."