The number of school-leavers securing jobs or gaining a place at third level has risen to more than 86 per cent, the highest level for 20 years, according to latest official figures.
Of the school-leavers surveyed in 1998, over 47.2 per cent were in employment, while 39.1 per cent were classified as third-level students. The figures were compiled by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The number of unemployed school-leavers was down to 7.5 per cent from 10.5 per cent in 1997. The level of unemployment among school-leavers has been falling steadily since the early 1980s.
However, the figures show little improvement in recent years in the number of students completing their Leaving Certificate. It was up by only 1 per cent this year to 81 per cent and has hovered around this level for the last three years of the survey.
Of the those who fail to complete their Leaving Certificate, about 15.5 per cent leave having completed their Junior Certificate, with the remainder (approximately 2,470 students) leaving without any qualifications. Of those the majority is male.
Similarly, 86 per cent of females complete their Leaving Certificate, with 76 per cent completing among males.
Reflecting the current economic buoyancy, the employment prospects of those leaving even at Junior Certificate level has increased vastly in recent years.
The ESRI said the percentage of school-leavers - who have left after the Junior Certificate - in jobs has risen from 63 per cent in 1996 to 68 per cent in 1998. This group also experienced a corresponding fall in the level of unemployment.
The report added: "Improvements in the employment prospects of those with no formal qualifications are notable. Over the period 1996-1998 there has been a substantial increase in employment levels for this group, by almost 18 percentage points between 1996 and 1998."
In relation to this group, "unemployment levels remained high despite showing a continual downward trend, declining from 61 per cent in 1996 to 54 per cent in 1997 and then to 42 per cent in 1998".
The full text of the ESRI's 1998 Annual School Leavers' Survey is available at The Irish Times web site: www.ireland.com/newspaper/special