Ireland’s literacy and numeracy ranking falls [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 14 May 2011
SUCCESS in tackling early school-leaving may be a factor in Ireland’s recent drop in average reading and maths standards.
In a decade from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, the proportion of students who dropped out of school before Leaving Certificate fell from 23% to less than 19%. The most recent statistics, published in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, show that the recession has also kept more students in school.
The number of first years in 2004 who finished school reached a record high of 85.5%, and above-average falls in dropout rates were seen in the most disadvantaged schools.
But Ireland’s global ranking in literacy and numeracy — based on tests between 2000 and 2009 — fell from 15th to 25th in maths and from fifth to 17th in reading. The scores are measured among 15-year-olds in about 30 developed countries as part of the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests run every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
