Ireland’s low education spend needs to change

Dear sir - In a letter to the Meath Chronicle of 20th November last, I quoted from an OECD report titled 'Education at a Glance 2010' which showed that Irish pupils excel in literacy when compared with their peers in the 30 other countries surveyed in the report. This report has now been overshadowed by the PICT study, which grabbed the prime time news headlines on the recent budget day – a gentle diversion from the day's top news item. PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, assesses 15 year olds in reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and in scientific literacy. The results point to a significant decline in standards among Irish students from the previous assessment, conducted in 2,000. It is important to clarify the results of this latest international test in educational standards, and to place them in their proper context. These below average results demonstrate the relationship that exists between socio-economic status and educational achievement. In other words the better off you are, the better chance you have of success in education and in employment opportunities. Families only have to look at the manner in which this government managed to pass legislation in the budget which governs that the Taoiseach and his ministers will take pay cuts of between five and six per cent on their salaries while those on the minimum wage, and least able to afford it, will be given a pay cut of eleven per cent. God help you if you are born in to poverty. The teachers' unions are very cognisant of the harm this report will do to the reputation abroad of the Irish education system. It is incumbent upon the education and social partners as well as parents, students and the media to work together to repair the damage done by this publication. Without a doubt the x-factorised world we live in has an impact on the lives of many of our students and on their educational attainment. It can be difficult for young people to develop and nurture their own innate skills and talents in an environment which bombards them with constant media distractions and messages, much of it inappropriate and misinformed. This saturation coverage can raise false illusions of success and divert people from the wider social truth that so little exists. These less than satisfactory results, while attracting much media and international attention, once again highlights the fact that Ireland still has one of the lowest levels of education spending relative to GDP in the OECD. This needs to change. Yours, Colin Quigley Chairman INTO, Athboy, Trim branch.