Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Government and particularly the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, on the results in the literacy and numeracy report published yesterday, which show that the Government is putting in more time and effort and that the literacy and numeracy strategy is working. Irish national school students were tested from the age of ten. They were tenth out of 45 countries in reading, 17th out of 50 in mathematics and 22nd out of 50 in science. They were all above the international average. It is a good result for primary school education and shows that the system is working.

However, I recognise that there are some concerns and that we cannot afford to become complacent. According to the results, we spend significantly less time on science. I heard a member of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, on the radio this morning who pointed out that national school teachers do not have the required training in physics, chemistry and general science as part of their teacher training and that we need to consider that. However, I was delighted to hear the Minister, Deputy Quinn, say yesterday that the Government is taking this seriously and that it is working to ensure that our young people are among the most highly educated in the world.