The lack of practical work in the teaching of maths, science and technology in schools and difficulties obtaining high grades are putting many Irish students off the subjects, says a new report
The State agency, Forfas, which compiled the report, compared the Republic's performance against Scotland, Finland, Malaysia and New Zealand. It found the infrastructure needed to examine practical work in Irish schools "lags behind" the other states.
"Ireland does not provide for the assessment of practical work in most science subjects. It is unique among the countries in the study in this respect," it concludes.
The report acknowledges "that measures are being taken" in this area, but if the issue is not resolved shortly "it will be a significant impediment to effective teaching and learning of science, technology and maths subjects in Ireland".
The report was carried out by a division of Forfas - the Irish Council for Science Technology and Innovation - and also includes critical comments about the examination system and its effect on the teaching of the three subjects.
It states: "The interests of science, technology and maths subjects are not best served by once-off assessment of student achievement through national examinations".
It adds: "The dominance of this practice in Ireland at Junior Certificate level is particularly questionable". It points out that the assessment which is carried out in other states "involves a wider range of methods".
The report says not only is there an over-emphasis on the Junior and Leaving Certificates, but it is extremely hard for students to achieve high grades in these exams. Consequently, concern is expressed about "the impact this may have on the uptake of these subjects".
In terms of transition year, it says while different learning models are used, there have been concerns "as to whether science, technology and maths is sufficiently addressed in the locally designed transition year programmes".
It says "there is concern that the current Junior Certificate maths syllabus is too broad to allow for the required depth of treatment in the time available".
It says all the countries studied in the survey consider arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics "basis components" for the study of maths. "Ireland is unusual in that most students study some calculus. New Zealand and Scotland place greater emphasis on the collection, organisation and presentation of data."
The report makes negative comments about the state of teaching in the Republic.
"The teaching profession in Ireland is characterised by low mobility, with long periods spent at one school, limited opportunities for professional development and limited scope for progression".
It says this position is having an impact on recruiting and training teachers at post-primary level. It also points out that the frequency of visits to schools by Department inspectors is "low". The "consensus-building" approach of the Department of Education and Science is also questioned by the report.
It says this "may constrain policy development and curriculum reform in contested areas, on which it is therefore difficult to make progress".
The report entitled, Benchmarking School Science, Technology and Mathematics Education in Ireland Against International Good Practice, has been passed on to the Department.