This article is from page 12 of the 2006-11-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
CLARE is among the highest academically achieving counties in Ireland, according to the results of an independent survey released this weekend. The survey which examined the university placements of students from 720 second-level schools in the Republic pinpointed the highest ranking schools as well as the countries educational blackspots.
The survey found Clare to be the fourth best county for second-level education with 38 per cent of its students going on to university, above the national average of 32 per cent, and behind Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown (51.7 per cent), South City Dublin (40.8 per cent), and Limerick (39.2 per cent).
The Clare school to take the highest position was St Flannan’s College, Ennis, which in 39th position nationally and sixth in Munster saw 64.3 per cent of its students gaining a university place.
At 12th position was Seamount College, Kinvara, which climbed from eightieth position in 2005. Despite this, Seamount College is expected to be closing its doors to students over the next couple of years. Another Clare school to reach to top 100 was Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon which at 45th place made a massive jump from last year’s position of 145.
Among the rest of the 400 schools listed were Colaiste Mhuire, Ennis who dropped from seventy fourth in last year’s ranking to 140th this year and Meanscoil na mBraithire, Ennistymon, which at 148th rose from its 2005 ranking of 152nd.