ONE OF the longest-running scandals has been the high level of illiteracy that arises in primary schools. It is a dreadful indictment of social planning; of education policy and of the quality of teacher training. What makes the situation worse is that where a child lives can have a defining impact on whether they will eventually be able to read, write or count. That, in turn, can make the difference between a life of isolation and poverty or one of confident employment.
Before the general election, Ruairí Quinn identified illiteracy as one of the major causes of inequality in society and the economy. Now, as Minister for Education, he has an opportunity to do something about it. Changing teaching methods should not, as he himself said, take lots of money and fancy equipment. But it will take commitment and a ruthless determination to ensure that literacy is taught better and longer at national school level.
A pilot project in Darndale, Dublin, has produced encouraging results after teachers there received in-school professional development training. The number of children found to have extreme reading difficulties was cut by three-quarters. That pilot programme will now be extended to some other schools in the Dublin region. But what about children from other disadvantaged areas of the State? The great bulk of juvenile offenders are illiterate. And while being unable to read does not make you a criminal, it is a sure-fire recipe for unemployment and social deprivation.
Child literacy rates have not improved for the past 30 years, despite greater investment in education and smaller class sizes. The extent of the problem was formally identified in 1997 when the United Nations reported that nearly one-quarter of the population had serious literacy difficulties. Then, two years ago, the OECD found that one in six 15-year-olds did not have the literacy skills to cope with further education or the demands of the modern workplace.
Political aspirations to create a knowledge-based economy amounts to so much hot air in the light of those findings. Literacy and numeracy are the basic building blocks of economic development and social engagement. Tremendous work has been done in recent years by adult education services and VEC programmes in providing remedial classes. But to be truly effective, the problem has to be addressed at source, within the primary school system. The benefits, in terms of social justice and economic development, are indisputable.