Most second-level pupils are working part-time, not because of financial hardship, but to fund their hectic alcohol-based social lives, a new report claims.
The report says although some students have financial difficulties, the main reason pupils do so much part-time work is because they have a certain "lifestyle" to finance.
The report, by a Government agency, the Skills Initiative Unit, says a range of measures are needed to tackle excessive part-time working by students, which it claims is leading to under-achievement in exams, particularly maths.
"The combination of excessive working and, frequently, alcohol-linked social activities can be damaging to educational participation and social development," says the report.
The report, Student Under-achievement and Part-time Work, by the former director of Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dr Sean McDonagh, says most of the work is done in supermarkets, pubs and fast-food outlets.
He says research suggests the vast majority of the money earned is then spent on entertainment, holidays, clothes, cigarettes and alcohol.
The report, which is being circulated to Government and to various third-level colleges, says there are now "unprecedented opportunities" in the economy for qualified people.
"By engaging in excessive term-time work, young people may be jeopardising their chances to obtain relevant qualifications that will enable them to avail of those opportunities."
One of the worst things about excessive part-time working, says the report, is that it is not linked to a student's course of study.
"The part-time work by students discussed in this document is overwhelmingly unstructured. It is typically low-skilled work not linked to the courses being followed or approved by the institutions attended," it says.
"The employers involved have no interest in or link with the student's studies and may have, in a full employment economy, an interest in increasing the number of student weekly hours worked regardless of the effects on the student's studies," the report concludes.
One of the report's recommendations is that school authorities draw up guidelines with parents in relation to attendance, homework and term-time work and other activities. School authorities should also be entitled to know the weekly hours worked by their "full-time" students.
The report points out that "full-time" students in Irish higher education avail of free fees and maintenance grants precisely because they are meant to be "full-time".