Seanad debates

Tuesday, 11 February 2003

Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Bill 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages.

 

However, we cannot stop with what we have now. I do not read the International Herald Tribune very often but the other day it carried the results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development survey on 15 year old students. It is the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, and it looks at the assessment of students' average reading, mathematics and scientific literacy in the 21 most developed countries in the world. We are well above the OECD average but why are Japan, South Korea, Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Britain ahead of us? We must improve and get up there. It is fine to be well above the average – the United State and Germany are below the average – but we have to ensure our 15 year olds are at the top of the tree.

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