Some 35 dedicated students from Finglas and Cabra were rewarded for their commitment to staying in school recently when they received their Opt In certificates from the Minister for Children, Mary Hanafin.

The Opt In programme is an early intervention initiative for potential young school-leavers developed by the Fingal ICTU centre for the unemployed. Unlike other schemes aimed at early school-leavers, the Opt In programme is proactive, targeting students at risk of dropping out, rather than those who have already left school.

"The issue of early school leaving in the area had already been addressed in terms of schemes for those who had left school at a young age," said Opt In co-ordinator Mark Harding.

"The centre wanted to be proactive and target students after the junior cycle while they're still in the system."

Some 11 schools with students from Finglas or Cabra nominate two students each for participation in the two-year programme.