Irish primary pupils get homework ‘twice as often’

Jenny Darmody

School children in Ireland receive daily homework almost twice as often compared to their international counterparts according to a report released by The Education Research Centre.

The 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) combined study is the world's most comprehensive study of academic achievement in primary schools.

The report showed that 60 per cent of Irish school pupils in fourth class receive reading homework every day and 62 per cent receive maths homework daily, both of which were almost double the international average.

The report also showed that Ireland allocated 10 per cent of compulsory instruction time to religion, more than twice the international average and exceeded only by Israel.

However, Irish students performed better across reading, mathematics and science compared to their international counterparts, but almost twice as many were unhappy in school.

The report also stated that, while Irish pupils were generally quite engaged in the classroom, teachers reported almost two-thirds of pupils had had too little sleep to concentrate.

This may be down to the number of school children that have TVs, and in some cases, computers in their bedrooms, which can lead to sleep deprivation.

Aidan Clerkin, editor of the report, said over half of pupils had a TV in their bedroom, while one in five had a computer in their bedroom.

Over two-thirds of Irish pupils “were categorised as almost never experiencing bullying”. While 12 per cent of Irish pupils questioned said they had experienced bullying “almost weekly”, this is almost half the number of their international counterparts.

The report found that bullying was most prevalent in designated disadvantaged schools (Deis) and all-boys schools in Ireland.

Ireland had more young teachers than most countries but they were less likely to collaborate with other teachers and participate in continuing professional development activities for each of reading, maths, and science.

The report also stated that 70 per cent of Irish pupils attended schools where principals rated parental support as “high” or “very high”.

This was twice as much as the international average.

Some 31 per cent of parents surveyed rated Irish schools as good at keeping them informed about their child’s education compared to an international average of 23 per cent.

This was despite the fact that Irish schools had the lowest frequency of all countries of providing information about their child’s learning progress.

Only 13 per cent of Irish pupils’ parents were informed at least three times a year, compared to almost 60 per cent of international parents.