Finding the muscle to fix our failing education system [IrishTimes]
- Published: 25 January 2011
It is time to stop commissioning reports and tiptoeing around the teacher unions. Ireland is being left behind with an inferior school system and it’s up to the new Minister for Education to stop the decline - urgent action has to be taken, writes ED WALSH
1THE SPENDING MYTH: WHY TEACHER QUALITY AND WORK PRACTICES ARE THE REAL KEY TO BETTER PERFORMANCE
Spending more does not necessarily mean that schools become better; sometimes they become worse. In the past decade, Britain increased school funding by 21 per cent and the US by 37 per cent, yet standards have slipped in both countries.
In Ireland’s case, the result has been even worse. In the past decade, funding per student has been increased in real terms by 61 per cent, yet performance has decreased by 15 per cent.
This disconcerting news was reinforced before Christmas when the international ranking of the reading, mathematics and science skills of Ireland’s 15-year-olds was published. Reading skills dropped from fifth to 17th, the sharpest drop among 39 countries, with one quarter of all 15-year-olds classified as effectively illiterate. This was more politely termed in the report as “below the level of literacy needed to participate effectively in society”.
Irish maths performance also took a dive. Over three years, it went from 16th to 26th, the second largest fall of all countries.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
