EDUCATION:LOW LEVEL of teacher accountability is a factor in explaining the Republic's decline in global education rankings, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report.

The report is also critical of the culture of secrecy in Irish education, where relatively little information on school performance is available to the public. It backs the publication of comparative data on schools, or league tables, in order to boost overall standards.

In a scathing assessment, the OECD points to the dramatic slide in Irish literacy and numeracy standards – despite an 83 per cent increase in the education spend between 2000 and 2008. The group says overall spending on education is now above the agency average as a percentage of gross domestic product or national output. In attempting to explain this decline, the report notes: “The Irish school system is characterised by comparatively limited accountability mechanisms.”

It states that only limited data on comparative school performance are made public.

The OECD says the Department of Education should establish an external evaluation to assess teacher and school performance and publicise the latter when adjusted for socio-economic background. Moreover, evaluation results should have implications for career progression.

Last night, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation referred to the report as selective saying it ignored the fact that average spend per pupil, but particularly at primary, was among the lowest in OECD countries.

The union also said the report did not comment on large classes which are the second highest in the European Union.

On maths, the international agency says shortcomings in teacher-training and in the allocation of teaching time may be penalising learning outcomes.

Primary teachers, who teach all subjects to their pupils, were found to vary widely in their mathematical knowledge.

At post-primary level, almost half (48 per cent) of the mathematics teachers did not have a mathematics teaching qualification, with an even higher figure (60 per cent) among teachers aged 35 or under.

In 2009, maths accounted for only 12 per cent of the compulsory core curriculum instruction time for Irish nine to 11 year olds (primary school pupils), below the 16 per cent agency average.