The school completion programme (SCP) marked 20 years of service to young people at risk of early school leaving last week. A Fórsa event to mark the anniversary was addressed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the education minister Norma Foley.

The programme offers an extensive array of in-school, after-school, out-of-school and holiday period support services aimed at enhancing pupil participation in education.

The Taoiseach acknowledged the ‘key role’ that SCP plays in engaging students at risk of early school leaving and helping Ireland secure one of the highest proportions of students completing second-level education. Latest official figures show that 91% of students complete second-level education in Ireland. OECD figures indicate that.

SCP branch Chair James Kavanagh said Fórsa members in the programme have maintained delivery of services to vulnerable young people despite serious setbacks, including cuts to funding in 2009 which have yet to recover.

“Demand for our services grow every year, and the post-Covid school environment is full of new challenges to young people in education. Over the 20 years of the service we can see the positive impact that the service has had for children in our schools,” he said.

Former student Georgia Grogan, now a student of law and history at DCU, described the difference SCP had made to her education experience.

“One day in fifth year, I remember that I wanted to give in and felt I’d never get the points. But my project worker sat me down, showed me all my grades and said, ‘Does this look like someone who doesn’t have it in them?’ I was crying and upset, but that smack of realism really helped,” she said.

Introducing An Taoiseach, who was the serving Minister for Education when the establishment of the SCP was first authorised, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the programme has achieved some of the best outcomes for disadvantaged young people in the EU, but remained on the margins of a stretched national education effort.

Kevin said this was despite recent modest improvements in funding, which he described as a first step in restoring the programme from deep cuts imposed during the financial crisis.

“We will need to do much more to adequately meet the needs of the young people for whom the school completion service is an essential pathway to fulfilling their educational, and life, potential,” he said.

The programme coordinates school-based, tailored interventions that target pupils most at risk of developing the kinds of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that hinder academic achievement, and the experience of engaging positively in the educational environment.

Read more of our coverage about the SCP symposium event here:

School Completion Programme “remains on the margins of a stretched national education effort”