EDUCATION SPENDING in Ireland was the fourth lowest among 31 OECD states during the peak years of the celtic tiger.
The annual OECD Education at a Glance report, published yesterday, shows Ireland languishing close to the bottom of the international league table in terms of spending on education as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) or total income.
The figures are based on trends in 2007 and do not take account of the cuts in the education service since then.
The report shows that on average, OECD countries spend 6.2 per cent of GDP on education.
Ireland spends 4.7 per cent on education, a figure that exceeds only three countries – the Czech Republic, Italy and Slovakia.
The report also shows Irish spending on education has fallen back significantly since 1995, when 5.2 per cent of GDP was invested in education.
Ireland was also one of the few countries to reduce spending on higher education at a time when student numbers were increasing dramatically.
The OECD report portrays a chronically underfunded education system in Ireland with poor levels of investment at primary, secondary and third level compared to most other OECD states.
The report also finds that Irish class sizes were among the highest in the OECD and second highest in the EU. On average, there are 24 pupils in Irish classrooms compared to an EU average of 20. The smallest classes are to be found in Luxembourg where there are on average 15 pupils per class.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) said low spending on primary education was directly responsible for large class sizes, inadequate secretarial and caretaking services, non-existent library services and underdeveloped back-up services such as school attendance, medical and psychological services.
Sheila Nunan, general secretary of the INTO, said the underfunding of primary schools explained why parents were being asked – often reluctantly – by schools to help with funding.
Teachers Union of Ireland general secretary Peter MacMenamin said the education service had been “routinely asset stripped” by the Government over the last two years.
Ireland would fare much worse in 2010 in any of the comparisons in the report, which is based on a survey carried out in 2007, he said. Last night, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland said the report underlined the challenges facing Ireland as it seeks to develop the smart economy.
It said the Government must resist the temptation to cut education spending.
Labour’s Ruairí Quinn said the new report exposed how successive Fianna Fáil governments blew the boom.
“At a time when there seemed to be no shortage of cash to spend on ill-conceived vanity projects and half-baked schemes like PPARS and electronic voting, many of our schoolchildren were languishing in overcrowded classes, and in schools that were housed in clapped-out prefabs.”
Responding to the report, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland described the level of investment in education here as deeply depressing.
Less time spent on science and maths
THE TEACHING time given to science, maths and physical education (PE) in Ireland is among the lowest in the OECD, a report has found.
The Education at a Glance report says Irish pupils at second level receive only 167 days of instruction per year, compared to the OECD average of 184. But it also finds that the net teaching time provided by second-level teachers per year (735 hours) is above the average (661 hours).
The report says the teaching of science accounts for only 4 per cent of total instruction time in primary schools – less than half the OECD average. The figure for the UK is 12 per cent.
Maths accounts for just 12 per cent of teaching time, compared to the OECD average of 16 per cent.
The report says PE accounts for only 4 per cent of all instruction time in primary schools, the lowest of any OECD country cited.
A huge proportion of teaching time in Ireland (29 per cent) is taken up with reading, writing and literature – but this includes work in both English and Irish.
The report shows teachers in Ireland to be among the best paid in the OECD although the 2007 figures take no account of the pension levy and pay cuts which reduced salaries by an average of 14 per cent.
The INTO said the report showed Irish primary teachers were among the most productive in the EU, teaching 152 hours more per year than the average.
Sheila Nunan, INTO general secretary, said Irish pupils get more lesson time in primary school than in any EU country, nearly twice as much as in Finland and Germany. Irish teachers teach more children for more time every year than in most other countries, she said, adding that the salaries of Irish teachers must be seen in this context.
The report also showed how Ireland has the second highest completion rate of upper secondary education/senior cycle of all the 31 countries
Education at a Glance also sounds a cautionary note about possible cutbacks in education spending across member states.
It stresses how investment in education can foster economic growth, enhance productivity, contribute to personal and social development and reduce social inequality.