Rebuilding Ireland - Improve or fail — it is that simple

ONE of our comfort blankets during the decade of hubris was the belief that we had a premier grade education system producing an endless stream of world-class graduates.

In the last few weeks several reports, including one from the Department of Education and another from the OECD, have told us otherwise. They, combined with concerns about declining standards expressed by university leaders or multinational companies struggling to find suitably qualified workers, make it impossible to pretend that we have the kind of education system we need any more.

There is good news though. There seems to be a changing culture of expectation and regulation in the Department of Education. Traditionally the Department worked hand-in-glove with the teachers’ unions and that relationship made it difficult to raise issues about standards and results but that seems to be changing.

Just last month the Department’s new chief inspector Dr Harold Hislop published a report that was very critical of performances in a significant number of primary schools. This refreshing directness is also apparent in new reports on secondary schools.

Ten years ago an OECD survey found that Irish 15-year-olds’ literacy skills ranked fifth, well above the average of the 33 OECD countries. This was a considerable achievement though it may have been deceptive. Irish schools did not have to face the challenges brought by recent inward immigration until later than other OECD countries so we enjoyed a temporary advantage.

That has changed dramatically and last year almost one-in-ten — 8% — of the pupils in Irish schools came from immigrant families. Consequently our enviable 2000 literacy rating has been lost and we’ve toppled to a mid-table position. We now rank 17th out of 33, losing more ground than any other OECD country.

Compared to other OECD countries our education system is under-resourced but, compared to the world’s newest economic powers — China, India and Brazil, it is well enough established and funded. Even though these are the economies we must compete with these are not the educational targets we must set ourselves. We must aim far higher.

As we speak an older security blanket is being pulled from a musty cupboard for a pre-campaign airing. It won’t be too long before some parish-pump Cicero tells us we’re a very sophisticated electorate. Maybe this time around we should really be sophisticated rather than blindly tribal and vote for whichever party promises to put education, along with the economy, centre stage.

Without change our schools and colleges will remain less than they might be and our children will be condemned to lives as second class citizens of the world.

None of this is beyond us, even with today’s slimmed-down resources. It can be realised with cooperation and determination. The challenging reality is that unless we do it with today’s resources we will never have the resources we imagine we need to do it. Even at this low point there is much we can do to shape our future, making a moderate education system great is one. It must become a priority.