Results black mark for our system, says Quinn

REACTION:THE ORGANISATION for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey results are a "shocking indication of how our education system fails to perform at the most basic levels", Labour's Ruairí Quinn said last night.

Labelling the results “a black mark” for the Irish education system, he said Ireland is now ranked outside the top 10 developed countries in terms of reading, science and maths.

“Incredibly, the class of 2010 is the first generation of Irish students not to have a better standard of literacy than their parents.”

General secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation Sheila Nunan said above-average OECD scores over the last decade had led to some complacency at official level.

But she said teachers were not complacent about standards.

Ms Nunan said significant changes over the past decade could not be ignored.

“In almost every Irish classroom there are more pupils who do not speak English as their first language, and more special needs pupils,” she said.

General secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland Pat King expressed concern that the survey indicated a closer link between socio-economic status and achievement in PISA tests amongst Irish pupils. “This must be a major concern for all of society,” he said.

Mr King pointed out that up to 18 per cent of students in second-level schools now have special educational needs. At the same time, the number of international students has increased significantly from 2.3 per cent of the cohort in 2000 to more than 8.3 per cent in 2009.

Many of these students have English-language and other learning needs, he said.

Teachers Union of Ireland General secretary Peter MacMenamin said all indicators must be looked at in the context of Ireland languishing 30th out of 33 OECD countries in a table of education spending.

“While there are findings that are of concern, the performance of our students continues to belie this miserly provision.”

Clive Byrne of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals said: “we need to stop using the Leaving Cert as a filter for third level because what happens at Leaving Cert governs everything else that’s taught down the line.

“High-performing systems allow schools to design curricula and assessment policies.

“We need to trust our schools, our school leaders and our teachers more, and stop harping on about how great we are.

“The way the country is at the moment – average isn’t good enough,”he said.