Social changes affecting literacy levels

THE changing face of the classroom is a major factor in the lack of improvement in literacy levels in poorer areas, principals claimed yesterday.

A recent report showed no significant change in the reading performance of fifth class pupils in disadvantaged schools between 1998 and 2004, despite the investment of huge Government resources in these schools.

But delegates at the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) annual conference said the challenges faced by schools, particularly in poorer areas, have grown in the same time.

IPPN past president Virginia O’Mahony said: “Much was made of the apparent lack of improvement, but it does not really compare like with like because of the social differences even in such a short timeframe.”

The principal of a disadvantaged school in a large town accepted he has benefited from smaller class sizes in the past number of years but said the report did not fully consider other factors.

“More than one-in-four of our pupils are non-nationals and many of them do not have English as their first language,” he said.

“We also have a lot more integration of children with special educational needs into our classes, which is a good thing. But they were not there in great numbers in 1998 and teachers need to give more individual attention,” he said.

The head of another disadvantaged school, also in a large town, said the home background of children in classes is also rapidly changing - with more than 40% of his pupils living in one-parent families.

A report by the Educational Research Centre report found children’s literacy development is strongly linked with their experiences of reading or being read to at home.

But Ms O’Mahony said: “House prices are forcing young couples to work very long hours and there’s very little time left for reading at home compared to in previous generations.”

A primary focus of Education Minister Mary Hanafin’s educational disadvantage package is to encourage young people to read more at home and to get parents involved.

Principals at the conference also said there is more need for pre-school places in poorer communities.