Pupils twice as likely to dislike being in school

Irish 10 year-olds are twice as likely as their international counterparts not to like being in school and also show a greater aversion to having to study maths.

According to a report by the Educational Research Centre at St Patrick’s College in Dublin, almost one in three boys (37%) said they did not like going to school compared to 16% of girls.

The aversion to schooling is particularly prevalent in DEIS band 2 schools. Those are schools in urban disadvantaged areas which receive extra educational supports from the State but not to the same level as the most disadvantaged schools, which are in band 1 of DEIS.