The annual report from the OECD, Education at a Glance, is a useful and an authoritative international perspective on our education service.
The picture presented is depressingly familiar. Despite much greater investment by Government in recent years, education spending continues to lag behind most of our EU partners. The OECD report shows Ireland trailing in joint bottom place in an international league table which links spending on each second-level student to overall wealth. Ireland spends 4.6 per cent of its wealth or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education compared to the OECD average of 5.8 per cent. A decade ago, when this State was much poorer, the spend on education exceeded five per cent of GDP.
All of this helps to explain some of the harsh realities of Irish education: overcrowded classrooms, constant fundraising by primary schools and poor technical and administrative supports at second level. At third level, the relatively poor level of resources means that many of our leading universities must continue to muddle through on a budget which is scarcely half of that enjoyed by their counterparts in other OECD states.
As the OECD report makes clear, there is simply not enough money in the education kitty, despite our vastly increased wealth. In these circumstances, the performance of the Irish education system at primary, secondary and third-level has been little short of remarkable. There is much that is wrong with our education system but there is also a fair measure of public satisfaction with it, certainly when compared to the health or transport services.
Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin has focused on the positive aspects of the report. She pointed to the huge increase in spending levels since 1994 and the promise of a €32 billion investment in education in the National Development Plan. The Minister appears sceptical about the link between more spending and better outputs in the education sector. The OECD report shows that more money does not always give rise to better education.
But in its landmark report on third-level three years ago, the OECD itself made a cogent case for a "quantum leap" in education spending for the sector. Something similar is required at primary and second level. Pupils and their parents are entitled to the kind of education provision which most of our OECD partners take for granted. This includes low pupil teacher ratios, less crowded classrooms, decent accommodation and facilities in schools and professional support and administration. This is not too much to ask for.