Irish secondary students are amongst the happiest in the world, according to an OECD report published today. Only students in Hungary, Sweden and the UK are as satisfied and positive about school.
One in five Irish students feel they "do not belong" in school in some way - this is low rate compared to other countries.
Most miserable are students in Japan, Korea and Poland, with more than one-third of them feeling that they "do not belong" in at least one respect.
A feeling of "belonging" is essential to students doing well, says the report.
Students who feel "disaffected" are more likely to be disruptive, to play truant and exert a negative influence on other students. They also tend to have difficulties in adulthood.
Yet while Ireland fared well in the survey, which was conducted in 2000-2001 by the Programme for International Assessment, the report warned that disaffection was too widespread to ignore.
While most 15-year-olds in the 42 developed nations surveyed attend school routinely, one in five admitted to regularly skipping school. In Belgium, Denmark and Spain, one-third of students report skipping school.
Schools where students are happiest are those where students come from more advantaged homes, but also those with a strong disciplinary climate, good student-teacher relations and high expectations regardless of social composition.