Reading during lockdown may have boosted Irish children’s literacy scores

The time Irish children spent reading during lockdown may be a factor behind their strong performance in an international study that shows our primary pupils rank among the best in the world for reading.

Ireland ranked in second place in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), which examined reading skills among hundreds of thousands of pupils across almost 60 countries in 2021.

However, Ireland was among a smaller group of countries that held the test six months later than others for Covid-related reasons. As a result, the study’s authors said direct comparisons with other countries needed to be made with “great care”.

While schools in Ireland closed for longer than many other countries, the study shows Irish pupils spent more time reading during lockdown periods.

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More than four-fifths of pupils read daily as part of their assigned schoolwork, while half read daily for non-school-related purposes, according to parents.

Pupils themselves also indicated that during school closure periods they were more likely to spend time reading than usual.

Additional reading during school closure periods was associated with higher achievement in the study, although this was not the case for reading more than usual on a screen.

Overall, officials in Ireland believe that although Irish pupils performed “somewhat better” due to the six-month delay in assessment, it is unlikely that the difference would have been very extreme.

They said Ireland remains one of a small set of high-achieving countries and that reading performance has “at least remained stable” since the last study in 2016.

The study also shows girls performed better than boys in Ireland, in common with most countries, but the gender gap here is relatively small.

Reading achievement was significantly higher among children from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds, while pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds performed at a significantly lower level.

The findings show that the improved performance among Irish pupils was concentrated among more advanced readers.

Separately, education authorities have also published the findings of the National Assessments of Mathematics and English Reading (Namer) at primary schools in 2021. These assessments were administered to more than 10,000 pupils in second and sixth classes during the first two weeks of May 2021.

It found overall performance across reading and maths was broadly similar to the last study in 2014. Although there was a small drop in performance, officials said it was not statistically significant.

While girls outperformed boys in reading at second class, boys outperformed girls in maths in sixth class.

Officials said it was reassuring that results in these national assessments were consistent with the last study despite the challenges faced by pupils and the wider education system during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It noted, however, that revised performance targets for reading and maths – set in an interim review of the national literacy and numeracy strategy – were missed.