Eoghan Harris (Independent)

I did not get a chance to read the OECD report yesterday, but having acquainted myself with it a bit more, I would like to call on the Leader for a debate on education. The problem with debating education in this House traditionally has been that there are so many teachers in both Houses of the Oireachtas that the debates always descend to a level of letting the Government spend more money, whatever Government that might be, and that everything will be fine. It is clear from the OECD report that there is a problem with teaching skills as well as everything else. It is no good throwing money at the Garda Síochána if we have bad cops. It is no good throwing money at the ESB if technicians are just working four and five hours per day.

The problem with teaching at the moment is that it seems there is a problem with teaching skills. If there is, then there is a managerial problem to be fixed. I would like a proper debate that would allow us to raise some of the unpopular things. There is a duty among Members of these Houses to say things that vested interests cannot say, whether those interests are teachers or anyone else. One of the things that strikes me is the fact that much teaching is very difficult. It involves rote skills and hard brutal learning of facts and figures. Mathematics especially involves hard work. It seems to me, as an outsider, that in recent years since 1980, there is much child-centred nonsense going on that makes the relationship between teachers and parents more emollient, but the fact remains that teaching is hard work. Much of it would be unpopular with parents if it were done properly.

In the past 40 years, picking up the habits of Britain, we have gone for all this trendy stuff and green flags, and we have forgotten that de Valera was educated in national school. There is no great curriculum around him. Michael Collins was educated in national school. How is it that they could come out and take on an empire? They were mathematically numerate and highly literate. How come, despite the fact that our teachers are some of the highest paid in Europe, and despite the fact that university lecturers are some of the highest paid in Europe, we still have problems with core teaching values? Much of that comes from the fact that we need to return to some traditional habits of teaching. We need to accept that, just like playing the violin, it is not easy all the way.