Published in the WOW! supplement of the Evening Echo 26/09/2007

If the Irish primary school system was given a school report to take home, the old teacher’s favourite – “Could do better” – would be scrawled all over it.

The latest “Education at a Glance” report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) throws up some less than favourable facts and figures relating to the current state of primary education in this country.

Did you know, for example, that despite recent improvements, Ireland’s primary school class sizes are still among the largest in the developed world? We come in at an average class size of 24.3 pupils, compared with an OECD average of 21.7, and an even lower EU average of 20.3.

Primary school children in Ireland, according to the report, spend more of their school time studying religion than in any other developed country in the world. Pupils aged between nine and 11 in Irish schools spend some 10% of all school time studying religion. That’s way above England at 5%, and the OECD average at 4%. The Australians are nearer the mark here – their children spend just 1% of their school time on the subject.

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