One in three children from disadvantaged areas in Ireland are unable to effectively read or write, a leading children's charity has said.
Barnardos says over 100,000 children find themselves doubly challenged by economic disadvantage and an education system that seems to be unable to meet their needs.
The charity today began a campaign to highlight the impact of educational disadvantage on children in Ireland.
Several children delivered a giant school report card to the Government this morning, which marked its performance in six key educational areas, with the overall comment, "must do better".
The charity believes the Government is failing to adequately tackle the high level of school drop outs and the low level of literacy and numeracy in disadvantaged areas.
Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said: "Irish people have long believed in education as a means of lifting yourself out of poverty.
We're calling on the Government to do better to make the grade when it comes to children's education.
"The Taoiseach has said that the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising is an opportunity to have a national conversation on what it means to be Irish. One of the things it means to be Irish is the right to an education," he said.
Referring to drop-out rates and delays in educational assessment in two disadvantaged areas, Barnardos' Director of Advocacy Norah Gibbons said: "Around 1,000 children under the age of 13 do not make it from primary school to secondary school every year, and we have no idea where they go because they are not being tracked."
Ms Gibbons said: "We're asking children to play a waiting game but it is a game they're losing because they are missing vital days, weeks or years of learning while their peers simply leave them behind."
