A case study that examines a number of early school leavers who did not continue their education after the Junior Certificate, analysing the causes of early leaving, the steps taken towards prevention and also looks at the impact that has been made by the introduction of departmental programmes to help prevention

The purpose of this case study was to investigate if early school leaving is still a problem in Ireland, and if so, what are the reasons for it and also what is being done to try and prevent the problem. The study focused on three research issues as follows: 1. Is early school leaving still a problem today as it was 10-15 years ago? 2. What are the reasons and causes identified that encourage students to leave school early? 3. What government policies are in place to help deal with the problem of early school leaving? To measure the degree of the problem of early school leaving in Ireland, this case study adopted a mixed method research methodology. Interviews and Surveys were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data for the study. The early school leavers interviewed, were encouraged to express their true feelings and attitudes towards the problem of leaving early and the reasons which lead them to the decision to leave before completing their education. The study suggests that early school leaving still exists in Ireland, approximately 14% in 2007. It indicates that there are a number of reasons and factors that influence students to leave school early. It also identifies the government policies that are in place to deal with the problem and shows the enhancements that have being initiated to effectively address the problem.