If the Government is serious about making Ireland a knowledge economy, maths and science teachers should be paid a premium over others in the profession, according to a leading technology executive. John Collinsreports.

Peter McManamon, the Irish Software Association (ISA) board member who heads up its public affairs working group, says the industry is facing a crisis due to the drop-off in qualified engineers and programmers coming out of third-level colleges.

McManamon and the ISA believe the best way to attract students to science and maths at second level is to have the highest quality teachers at second level.

"Bottom line: pay the maths and science teachers whatever it takes," said McManamon.

"I don't care what you pay them if you produce the goods at the end of the day. Produce kids that are top-quality science and maths graduates who will drive this economy forward."

The ISA's position has been backed up by a report from management consultants McKinsey which was published this week.

Looking at the education systems in the 10 countries that have been ranked highest by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one of McKinsey's main findings was that "the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers".

Although McManamon says he has not been able to find any corresponding research for Ireland, he said it was disturbing that in Britain in 2002 a quarter of second-level maths teachers had not taken the subject themselves beyond A-level.

He says teachers should not be allowed teach mathematics unless they have a third-level degree in the subject.

"I'm not talking about the quality of the teacher," said McManamon. "The teacher may be a good teacher, but if they have not got a degree in mathematics they don't have a love for the subject. If they don't have a love for the subject, they are not the Pied Piper."

He also said it was telling that universities were running weekend grind classes to bring first and second-year students up to the necessary levels in maths.

The ISA is also calling for bonus points in the college application system to be reintroduced for Leaving Cert results in honours maths.

"If the Department of Education won't drive it the universities should do it themselves," said McManamon.

The ISA has included the call for increased salaries and bonus points in its pre-budget submission which has been forwarded to a number of Government departments, including the Department of Education and Science.

The vast majority of start-up technology companies McManamon sees in his day job as a partner in venture capital firm Atlantic Bridge Ventures are now using some element of off-shore development because they cannot find enough local engineers.

"The bulk of their teams are overseas - the Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland," he says. "What the hell has gone wrong? We are losing so much opportunity."

McManamon is acutely aware of the challenges of building a multinational technology from an Irish base. With fellow Atlantic Bridge partner Brian Long, he co-founded electronics designers Parthus Technologies and is still chair of Ceva, the company it became following a merger with an Israeli firm.

The ISA has been raising the skills shortage with Government for almost five years, but McManamon believes little progress has been made and urgent action is now required.

"In the last 10 years we have fallen behind so much it is scary, said McManamon.

"This is not an easy or a quick fix, but I don't see anyone with an overall grand plan of how to get the most out of the teachers and students."