There is a paradox at the centre of education in this State. As a nation we pride ourselves on what we regard as a world-class education system, which has underpinned Ireland's economic growth. But when the education system is subject to external examination, it does not always emerge with distinction.
The latest literacy figures - prepared by Dr Tom Kelleghan and his team at the Education Research Centre and published yesterday as part of the new National Reading Initiative - are a case in point. The figures make for depressing reading; one in 10 children still leaves primary school with significant literacy problems and there has been little marked improvement in literacy levels over the past 20 years. The average level of performance in English is unchanged since 1980 and there has been no change in the performance of low-achieving pupils. The customary response to such figures in Irish education has been to demand more resources. Resources may indeed be part of the problem. For a generation and more remedial education suffered from chronic under-investment. In its detailed discussion document on literacy, the INTO made a strong case for much earlier intervention, where children with difficulties would be identified in Junior and Senior Infants.
For all that, the most sobering aspect of yesterday's findings is that the increased level of State support in this area has made very little appreciable difference. Since 1978, average class size in Irish primary schools has declined from 33 to 26 pupils; the number of remedial teachers has increased from 800 to 1,400 in the past decade and the cost of the remedial service has increased to £35 million. But, at least to date, all this investment has made little appreciable difference. We are no better off, in literacy terms, than we were twenty-one years ago.
There is much to be done if the quality of remedial teaching is to be improved. A recent major study pointed to several shortcomings, notably the lack of co-ordination between the work of the remedial teacher and that of the classroom teacher. To his credit, the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, will shortly launch a revised set of guidelines for remedial teaching; it is a tacit, and refreshing, admission that the current remedial service is not achieving its objectives.
The problems with literacy, of course, cannot be resolved solely by a school-based approach. In launching the Reading Initiative, Mr Martin spoke of how some children go home to an environment where reading, or the development of reading skills, is not encouraged. The sad reality is that many children are now more familiar with the remote control zapper or the computer mouse than with reading for pleasure. Mr Martin hopes that his new £5 million initiative will encourage parents to read to their children. It is a tall order; many of the parents who will be targeted suffer themselves from significant literacy difficulties. The Government is engaged in an admirable piece of social engineering but there is little guarantee of success.