evidence: Ireland has too many students - Discuss. Ireland has the highest proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who have completed third-level education in the EU. Almost half, 47%, of young adults in Ireland have completed third-level education, compared with 39% across the developed world (of OECD members). [...] The proliferation of third-level education also risks infantilising our youth well into what should be their most productive years. Instead of being encouraged to strike out on their own they are encouraged to follow pre-school, primary education and secondary education with yet more education where their focus is less the acquisition of their own experience than regurgitating what teacher says obeying teacher.