JUST more than one in three 'poor' children are achieving five good GCSEs including both English and maths - way short of a government target.
The assembly education committee was told that while a greater proportion of pupils from deprived backgrounds were passing core subjects, much more needed to be done.
Department of Education permanent secretary Paul Sweeney appeared before the committee yesterday to update members on Programme for Government (PfG) objectives.
One of the more ambitious PfG commitments was a drive to increase the proportion of young people from disadvantaged areas achieving at least five GCSEs at A*-C, including maths and English.
There is a gulf in exam performance between school pupils from different social backgrounds.
Poorer pupils do only half as well as their financially better-off classmates.
Five GCSE passes at grades A*-C including English and maths is considered a benchmark that most post-primary schools should achieve.
However, only about one third of Year 12 pupils entitled to free school meals (FSM) achieve this mark.
FSM entitlement is the simplest and most common measure of social disadvantage in schools. Meals are usually provided to children whose parents receive benefits or whose family income is less than £16,190.
In 2005/06, just 26.3 per cent of FSM pupils achieved the five plus English and maths standard.
The PfG set a target of 42 per cent for 2012/13, 44 per cent for 2013/14 and 49 per cent for 2014/15.
Figures for 2013/14 are not yet available but Mr Sweeney revealed that the target for 2012/13 had been missed - just 34.9 per cent reached the required standard.
Mr Sweeney said education minister John O'Dowd and his department had set a "very challenging target".
"It is just shy of 35 per cent, suffice to say we have a huge task on our hands in terms of closing that gap," Mr Sweeney told the committee.
"We make no apologies for setting an ambitious target. The target itself has created momentum."
Mr Sweeney added that initiatives including the 'signature project' should ensure overall results improve.
The signature project for post-primary schools is designed to improve reading, writing and counting in areas of high deprivation.
A total of 150 teachers have been given two-year fixed-term contracts to deliver extra tuition to pupils who are predicted to miss out on C grades in their English and maths GCSEs.
The department was previously criticised by the Public Accounts Committee in Westminster for tolerating a situation where too many children were leaving school with poor reading and writing skills.
' * 'VERY CHALLENGING TARGET': According to Department of Education permanent secretary Paul Sweeney just 34.9 per cent of children entitled to free school meals reached the required GCSE standard in 2012/13