LONG DAYS in school, mixed ability classes, terminal exams which are make-or-break for students - the Irish education system has been something of an eye-opener for teacher Joe Pleiner, who comes from a very different education system in Germany.
The most striking feature of the Irish education system is the long school days for pupils and teachers, says Joe Pleiner, head of the German department at St Killian's German School, Clonskeagh, Dublin.
"The poor kids and teachers - sometimes they get home after 5 or 6 p.m. and they have to do their homework. I think the kids are deprived of part of their childhood."
Teachers have to teach many more hours per week than their German counterparts, he adds. "I really think they need three months off in the summer. In Germany, you have the afternoon off for yourself so you can recuperate and recharge your batteries during the year. We only have six weeks off in the summer."
Pleiner thinks this is preferable to the longer Irish "summers", when pupils can forget quite a lot of what they have learned in the previous year.
Another striking difference, he says, is that German schools are streamed. In mixed-ability groups, which are the norm in Ireland, the good students are under-challenged while the poor students are over-stretched, he adds.
"Both groups can find it boring and frustrating. It's really hard for the teacher to teach these different types of learner. When you have different schools for different groups you can cater for their abilities a lot better. It is more challenging for the students if they are in a homogenous group."
It is possible to change from one type of school to another in Germany, but it is difficult: students in the "gymnasiums" learn two foreign languages as part of their preparation for university, while those in the other types of school learn only one foreign language, usually English.
Second-level students in Germany accumulate marks for participation and assignments during their final two years, so that the terminal examination only accounts for about one-third of the Abitur. "I feel sympathy for the poor Leaving Cert pupils, such enormous pressure. It all depends on these two weeks."
Pleiner says he likes the strong emphasis on information technology here. "I think it's amazing how computer literate most of the kids are here." He also commends the "very modern" approach to languages in Ireland.
Pleiner has spent five years in this country, teaching in St Killian's, where the students are 90 per cent Irish and 10 per cent German. "We are given contracts for up to eight years. I had one for three years initially but extended that three times already. I intend to stay as long as possible."
