OECD survey - Isle of saints and scholars no more

It is hard to imagine that Ireland was once the university of Europe, an island of learning and classical scholarship that outshone anything the continent had to offer.

For 300 years — from the sixth to the ninth century — Irish monks studied, taught and spread learning to England, Scotland and continental Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.

It was during the so-called Dark Ages elsewhere in Europe — the period of intellectual darkness between the “light of Rome” and the Renaissance — that they flourished.

Irish monks were early evangelists for education and took pride in their role as the guardians of the flame of scholarship. They travelled throughout Europe, spreading their knowledge and keeping alive many European centres of learning.

Over the centuries, writers from Swift to Wilde to Joyce to Beckett and others built on that literary tradition.

It is hard to imagine such a rich history because it appears to contrast so much with contemporary Ireland.

It is hard to imagine that this ancient island of saints and scholars should have descended to a state where more than half a million adults can barely keep pace with some of the lowest levels of literacy worldwide. An OECD survey, published yesterday, measured and compared the skills of people aged between 16 and 65 across 24 countries.

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies shows Irish adults at below the overall average in literacy. While this is an improvement since a previous study in 1994, Ireland still ranks 15 out of 24 participating countries. The survey shows that almost 18% or about one in six adults in Ireland are at or below level 1 on a five level literacy scale. At this level a person may be unable to understand basic written information, such as directions on a bottle of medicine for a child.

The survey also looked at numeracy levels and technological competence. Numeracy levels among Irish adults are significantly below average when compared with other OECD countries. We also have lower than average skills when it comes to using new technology to solve problems. The country with the lowest numeracy skills was the United States, plummeting from once having one of the highest.

That should be a lesson to us. While we may not be able to draw on the wisdom of the ancients to enhance our learning abilities, we can, at least, look to what is being done elsewhere. Japan, Finland and the Netherlands scored best in the study, so they must be doing something right.

Literacy and numeracy have practical, as well as academic application. As Inez Bailey, the director of the National Adult Literacy Agency, put it: “This survey confirms findings from other reports that people with the lowest skill levels earn less income, are more likely to be unemployed and have poorer health.”

Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn appeared to be grasping at straws when he said he was “encouraged that this survey shows we are making progress on reducing the number of adults with low literacy levels”. However, even he had to admit that our numeracy levels are dismal.

He is banking on the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in our schools to make significant improvements.

Let us hope he is right, as the ghosts of the past are no longer there to guide us.