Most primary pupils get homework help

More than two-thirds of Ireland’s primary school children get help with their homework from parents on a daily basis, while 4 per cent never receive assistance.

Statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal that 69 per cent of children at primary school level get help with their homework from their parents daily; 19 per cent receive help once or twice a week; while a further 8 per cent are helped less frequently.

However, 4 per cent of primary school children receive no help at all when at home.

At secondary level, the number of children who received daily help with their homework fell to 13 per cent. Just under a quarter received help once or twice a week; while 36 per cent received assistance less frequently; and 28 per cent never received homework help.

The survey, which looked at parents’ involvement in the education of over 12,000 children nationwide, was carried out as part of the CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey in the second quarter of 2012.

When the results for primary and second-level children were combined the overall level of children who received daily help with their homework stood at 48 per cent.

Parents with higher levels of educational attainment were more likely to help their children with their homework on a daily basis and were least likely to never provide assistance.

Just 9 per cent of children whose parents had a third-level qualification never helped with their homework.

Conversely, 24 per cent of children whose mothers were not educated past primary level, and 22 per cent of children whose fathers were not educated past primary level, never received homework help.

Michael McLoughlin of Youth Work Ireland, a federation of 22 local voluntary youth services whose members provide support for early school-leavers, called for better support for the parents of second-level children. He called for a particular focus on the most disadvantaged areas; something he said would help combat early school-leaving and inter-generational disadvantage.

“These are often the children who drop out and face a difficult future in terms of employment and participation in society,” he said.

The survey also found that 55 per cent of primary school children and 90 per cent of secondary school children accessed learning materials for school using the internet outside school hours.

While 87 per cent of parents aspired to their children attending college or university, only 82 per cent believed their children would actually do so.

The higher a parent’s own educational attainment corresponded to their expectation that their child would attain a third-level education.

A smaller sample of the parents of almost 4,400 children aged between three and seven years found that 71 per cent of parents read to their child every day.