SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

Education Correspondent Niall Murray says Mary Coughlan is a firm believer that overhauling teacher training rather than cutting class sizes is key to reversing falling literacy and numeracy standards.

IT’S no small coincidence that Mary Coughlan revealed Department of Education plans to overhaul teacher training late last month, knowing that this week the world would learn how much literacy and maths standards are dropping.

The shocking figures in the OECD’s latest encyclopaedia on student performance will do nothing to improve the impression of our education system, particularly with the multinational sector on which the Government is relying for jobs growth.