Irish teenagers are among the top performers in the OECD when it comes to reading and literacy. But their ranking in maths, just above the OECD average, is continuing to cause concern.
The results from the OECD study, published yesterday, also show Irish 15-year-olds slightly above average in science.
The study compares the performance of teenagers in reading, maths and science across 57 OECD states. The results show a better than average performance from students in some schools, including fee-paying schools and boarding schools.
But it says these schools benefit from the "advantages" their students bring to school, including a family background that values academic performance. The report also praises the strong performance of first-generation immigrant students in the Republic, one of the few OECD states where they attain the same level as native students.
Broadly, the results are strikingly similar to previous studies in 2000 and 2003. While Leaving Cert grades have continued to surge ahead since then, the study shows that the academic performance of Irish teenagers when compared with their international counterparts has not changed significantly.
Yesterday, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin congratulated teachers, schools and parents on the strong results in reading and science. However, she acknowledged that the results in maths were disappointing. "We need to see our higher achievers in other subjects doing much better in maths," she said.
More than 4,500 students in 165 schools in the Republic took part in the Programme for International Student Evaluation (PISA) study, which ranks the performance of some 400,000 teenagers in 57 countries. Across all subjects, Finland, Hong Kong/China, Canada and Korea are among the top performers.
In science, the Republic had the highest level of environmental awareness in the OECD, but Irish teenagers scored poorly on engagement with science-related activities.
Generally, the report is upbeat about the performance of the Irish education system. It states: "Parents . . . can rely on high and consistent performance standards across schools in the entire education system and may, therefore, be less concerned about choice between schools in order to attain high performance for their children than parents in countries with large performance differences between schools."
The relatively poor performance of Irish students in maths comes as up to 4,000 students still fail the subject annually in the Leaving Cert. A revised Leaving Cert maths course, placing a new emphasis on problem solving and on the application of knowledge, will be rolled out in schools on a topic-by-topic basis, from next September.
John White, of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, said the results showed again that the Irish education system was performing exceptionally well.
Tim O'Meara, of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, said the report was "clear and unequivocal endorsement of the work carried out by non-fee-paying public schools. Irish teachers should be proud of these findings."
But Siobhán Masterson, of employers' group Ibec, expressed concern at the disappointing performance in maths. Ms Hanafin, she said, must "sign off on the proposed new Junior and Leaving Certificate maths curricula to ensure that they can be introduced without further delay. In addition, innovative ways of teaching maths need to be developed and supported through investment in the professional development of maths teachers."