Academically challenged children are not being catered for in overcrowded classrooms and by teachers who have not received adequate training in teaching children with high IQs, according to the honorary president of Mensa International.
A high pupil-teacher ratio, teachers' work overload and the lack of teacher-training in challenging "gifted" children is leading to frustration among teachers and parents, according to David Schulman, honorary president of Mensa International.
He said that when the Government and education bodies spoke of children with "special needs" they failed to consider the 20,000 academically challenged children in Ireland, 20 of whom were members of Mensa Ireland.
"These children learn very quickly, but after a while teachers tell them not to speak, not to interrupt answers, and gradually they just disappear in the classroom.
"They suddenly shut up and stop listening, and eventually lose knowledge of how to learn," he said.
He added that there was ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that many children who were at the top of the class in primary school dropped to the bottom of the class over the period of two years because of boredom and the loss of motivation to learn.
General secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) John Carr said children were not just individuals with academic needs but also social beings who needed to learn to live and work in a group.
In some instances, he said, gifted children often displayed what might be called social problems.
"In a school setting when they see or grasp a learning outcome, some alienate other pupils by dominating the group work or by passing remarks about the lesser abilities of others.
"This can lead to resentment on the part of other children," said Mr Carr.
He added that many teachers in primary schools were successfully accommodating the needs of these children and were differentiating their work appropriately.
"Special children have special needs which must be met in a special way.
"There may be resource implications in terms of school equipment, books and other materials that must be purchased.
"These should be made available to schools so that they can make provision for gifted children."
Access to a resource teacher and training teachers in dealing with academically challenged children was also identified as critically important.
At the Young Scientist Exhibition today in the RDS, Mensa Ireland will be recruiting new members whose IQ is in the top 2 per cent of the population.
"Two in every 100 Irish people have that IQ or you could say one in every 50 people are in the top two percentile," said Mr Schulman.
"If you look at a full bus driving by, the chances are that one person on the bus is a member or a potential member.
"Being highly intelligent is not a gift or a curse. It's about what you do with your intelligence."