Drawing lessons from early school leavers in a social justice context: Introductory comments

This special issue focuses on the trajectories of early school leavers and includes corresponding papers from six countries in Europe. It presents a cross-national view on interrelated issues that facilitate understanding of the lessons that can be learned from these trajectories to promote a more socially just approach to education. In this introductory article, the authors present early school leaving (ESL) as a key issue in Europe, discuss relevant good practices and set the scene for an analysis of education as a matter of social justice and human rights – one which requires, above all, the prevention of educational poverty.