A special fund to allow early school-leavers access to "second chance" education to the value of £10,000 has been proposed in a report by the Oireachtas Committee on Education.
The committee recommends that anyone who leaves school with the Junior Certificate or less should have the right to an "education credit account" of £10,000 which he or she could draw down at any stage over 18, whether they are in work or on social welfare.
The committee also believes that the present points-based Leaving Certificate examination must be "radically" altered.
It recommends "continuous assessment of the work of pupils throughout their educational career; valuing the wider dimensions of a pupil's development rather than simply the retention of subject material; and the building up by pupils of a portfolio of achievements and aptitudes through their school life and later career."
It wants alternative curriculums aimed at young people at risk of early school-leaving to be greatly expanded.
As a first step, the Junior Certificate Schools Programme, currently taken by only 1.4 per cent of pupils, and the Leaving Certificate Applied, taken by 5.6 per cent, should be made available in all schools designated as disadvantaged.
The report proposes the setting up of an education development fund to support specific strategies developed by schools at local level, with a special emphasis on strategies to address educational disadvantage and early school-leaving.
It urges the Departments of Education and Science and Enterprise, Trade and Employment to develop part-time educational options for early school-leavers which could be combined with work commitments.
These should be supported by a legal right of release from employers.