Student literacy a real problem [carlowpeople.ie]
- Published: 12 July 2011
'WHERE did it all go wrong' - that's the burning question in post Celtic Tiger Ireland and no wonder when we reflect on boom turned to bust in so short a time and our perceived prosperity thrown to the four winds. It seems our problems aren't confined to the state of the economy though, for now it emerges that as well as losing our money we've also lost the ability the read, write and do our sums. According to recent OECD research, 17 per cent of Irish 15-year-olds lack the literacy skills needed to function in modern society and one in five lacks basic numeracy skills.
In a country that takes very considerable pride in announcing to potential investors that we have one of the most highly educated workforces in the world, it comes as something of a setback finds that so many of us can't read or write or do basic maths. It's a shock too for the taxpayers of the nation to discover that so many young people can pass through our €8 billion a year education system without learning the absolute basics.
Full Story: www.carlowpeople.ie
