About 40,000 primary schoolchildren have reading difficulties, or an average of two pupils per classroom, the INTO leader, Senator Joe O'Toole, has said.
Mr O'Toole has called for "a major initiative to improve literacy levels and eliminate illiteracy in Ireland". Such an initiative should target both adults and children. Children with literacy problems should be identified in infant classes, be given intensive remedial support and monitored and supported throughout their time in primary school.
He also called for an appropriate State-wide literacy survey, carried out with the co-operation of the education partners, which would be "more comprehensive and realistic" than last year's OECD survey. This showed "almost a quarter of the adult population at a level of literacy which hampers their ability to participate fully at work or in the community."
Mr O'Toole urged the Minister for Education and Science to set up a working group made up of INTO and Department of Education representatives to oversee and monitor a comprehensive survey of reading skills levels in Ireland.