Learning outcomes for pupils in Ireland have slipped amid concern that overburdened school principals lack capacity to effectively lead teaching and learning in their schools, according to a global education report published by Unesco.
The Global Education Monitoring Report for 2024/25 examines progress being made across the world in delivering inclusive and equitable quality education.
It notes that minimum proficiency levels among 15 year olds in Ireland in maths fell from 85 per cent to 81 per cent, and in reading from 90 per cent to 89 per cent between 2015 and 2023.
The decline mirrors trends across much of the rest of the world where learning levels have stagnated or slowly declined.
Nonetheless, Ireland remains towards the top of the overall global league table in boths maths and reading.
The findings are based on an analysis of an analysis of Pisa test scores, which are run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) every three years, and other indicators on educational attainment.
The decline in learning outcomes is likely to have been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the report says, but adds that this may mask other structural factors.
“More research is needed to disentangle the potential role that issues such as increased diversity, the distracting impact of technology, changes in home environments and even growing levels of mathematics anxiety may have played,” the report says.
The report also highlights an “acute need” for strong education leadership and calls for school leaders to have more time to lead learning to help address a broader global decline in educational outcomes.
It says strong, empowered leaders are essential to transforming education outcomes, yet only half of school principals globally receive training in core areas like teaching, collaboration, and personnel development.
Research indicates that leadership accounts for over a quarter of the variation in school performance, emphasising the urgent need to invest in leaders at all levels.
Manos Antoninis, director of the Glocal Education Monitoring report, said good schools require good school leaders who can inject new momentum into learning.
“These leaders, second only to teachers in influencing student outcomes, must be supported with training and resources,” she said.
“We’re not empowering our leaders to help take education where it needs to be. Four in ten countries do not even give university leaders the ability to take academic and organisational decisions by law”.
The report notes that school leaders across many countries feel they are often expected to do too much with too little.
While data suggests there are very high levels of job satisfaction among principals in Ireland, there are also growing concerns about workload.
It quotes surveys of more than 1,000 principals in 2015, 2022 and 2023 which found that over 50 per cent experienced burnout due to issues such as teacher shortages and the need to implement challenging Government initiatives, such as those related to inclusive education
The report says many do not have enough time to lead teaching and learning and feel burdened by increasing administrative demands.
Given the responsibilities they have, it says school leaders need to be selected in open, meritocratic recruitment processes.
The report notes that good teachers do not always make good principals. Yet in Ireland, prior teaching experience is required to become a principal, but not prior experience with administration.
It also highlights the need for principals to be effectively trained to manage the task of leading schools. It notes there are no national laws, policies, strategies or binding frameworks in Ireland providing for training for school principals before taking up position, following their appointment or on continuous training when in service.
Nonetheless, Ireland places an emphasis on inducting new principals with an three-year induction phase, in many cases.
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