The 2012 edition of 'Education at a Glance' was published yesterday and enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries’ educational performance. The wide-ranging 'Education at a Glance' is an annual OECD report that compares countries in a range of areas. These include the amount of time spent teaching in schools, teacher salaries, the government spend on education and social gains from education.

The Report shows that shows that Irish second-level schools out-perform most other countries in terms of delivering a quality inclusive education and that Ireland has one of the highest school completion rates in the world with only two countries out of 26 coming ahead of Ireland. The average school completion rate for OECD countries is 84%, while in Ireland it is 94%.

According to ASTI General Secretary Pat King, “completing second-level education is highly correlated to employment status, lifetime earnings and the wellbeing of individuals, A country’s completion rates for second and third-level education are vital to the development of a workforce which can compete in the global knowledge economy and ensure long-term economic growth.”

The report finds that across the OECD students who are educationally disadvantaged – including immigrant students, students from low income backgrounds and students whose parents have low education levels – have a limited chance of going to third level. In Ireland, however, students who are educationally disadvantaged are more likely to progress to third level than those in other OECD countries. For example, 51 per cent of second-level students whose parents have low levels of education go to third level compared with an OECD average of 33 per cent.

“The findings are testament to the commitment of teachers and schools to equality. Giving all young people a fair chance to obtain a quality education is a fundamental part of the work of our schools,” said Mr King.

However, according to an article in the Irish Independent today, the ‘Education at a Glance’ report shows that Irish primary pupils are losing out on vital lessons in science while schools devote twice as much time to religion.

Despite the huge growth in science-based jobs in industry, reports the Independent, the OECD think-tank said minimal time is given to the subject at primary level here. The Independent reports that the OECD 'Education at a Glance' report shows that Irish primary pupils spend only 4pc of their class time on science -- half the international average of 8pc. By comparison, Irish primary schools devote 10pc of teaching time to religion, second only to Israel, and more than double the OECD average of 4pc. The situation is not much better at second level, where science is given 8pc of class time, two-thirds of the OECD average of 12pc.

Read the full article from the Independent here.
Read the full OECD ‘Education at a Glance’ Report here

Comments