BRIAN MOONEY'S ADVICE CENTRE: Why do so many young people get their choice of third-level courses wrong?With over 30 per cent of first-year entrants to third-level colleges throughout the OECD failing to complete the programme they initially register for, one has to ask the question: "Why do so many college applicants get their college choice so wrong".

The main reason for such large drop-out rates, lies, in my view, in society's expectation that higher and further education will be undertaken primarily by those aged between 18 and 25. This expectation puts huge pressure on young people to make academic choices that many are not ready to take.

Governments throughout the world are also constantly encouraging young people to continue with their education to the highest level possible, even though a sizeable proportion of them do not have any particular desire to do so, having just completed 14 years in primary and second-level education. Coercing them into making educational choices at the end of second level, lays the groundwork for high drop-out rates and is a waste of taxpayers's money.

The resolution of this issue lies, in my view, in a move away from the expectation that third-level education is primarily the preserve those aged 18 to 25 and that it involves attending college full-time for three to five years to a far more flexible vision of what higher and further education can be. If we in Ireland are to join an elite group of countries that will secure a significant proportion of the high technology jobs of the future and thus maintain our high standard of living, we will have to move rapidly towards a higher and further education system based on life-long learning.

What would be the features of such a life-long third-level education system?

For the majority of young school leavers, the present system would remain unchanged. They would continue to move directly from second level to university, study full-time for three to five years, and then enter the work force. For those who do not feel ready to take this route, the system should offer a flexibility that would enable them to return to education during their adult life. For this group of potential adult learners, entry requirements would be defined in terms of the skills required to participate at particular levels of educational endeavour, rather than exam results taken many years previously. It is widely recognised that the skills required to successfully engage with third-level education can be achieved though learning acquired in the workplace and through the simple process of living life as an adult in society.

To facilitate the large number of adults in our society who have a desire to access higher and further education, but whose life circumstances currently create major barriers to them doing so, our third-level institutions will have to become far more flexible in how they deliver their programmes. The institutions must also look at the time a learner can take to complete a course, allowing for the options of both full-time and part-time learning. Advances in information technology will also facilitate quality learning, by students from a wide variety of life circumstances.

What concerns does this futuristic vision of education present?

Having grown and developed over many hundreds of years, our universities and other colleges are rightly concerned that any major changes in admission procedures and delivery and assessment methodologies do not dilute or undermine the quality of the education they provide.

These goals can best be achieved by clearly defining the learning outcomes a student is required to achieve at the end of every module of learning, as well as at the end of each level of qualification, whether it is an undergraduate degree, a master's or doctoral programme. By being clear regarding the standards required for successful completion of a programme, and adhering to those standards, it should not matter how long or through what methodology a student completes their course of study.

Hope for the future

We can and must create a society in which individuals are facilitated in accessing lifelong education in a far more flexible way. This ongoing process will change the nature of what we expect our further and higher education system to provide, while at the same time maintaining academic standards.

Where adult learners are found to fall short of the skills required to commence a programme of third-level study, we must put in place preparatory programmes to enable them to close that gap. Only by accepting that for those over the age of 18 real learning can only be delivered when individuals are ready and willing to engage with it will we see a fall-off in drop-out rates in colleges, and the active participation of large numbers of adults, whose involvement is in harmony with their employment and family circumstances.

• Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin and a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors