OECD gives Ireland poor report card on education

Ireland spends less on education than most other industrialised countries with class sizes among the largest, a new report has found.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Education at a Glance 2007, published today says that the average spend for members was $7,061 (€5,088) per child from primary to tertiary education.

Irish class sizes are the largest in Europe - OECD. Image: Alan Betson.

Ireland spent just $6,713 per child and ranks lower than the European Union average of $6,811 per child. When Ireland's wealth was taken into consideration, spending per child drops to the bottom, just above Brazil and on a par with Russia.

Education at a Glance 2007also found that Irish class sizes are the largest in the EU with an average of 25 children per class in 2005, putting Ireland just above Korea, Chile, Japan, Turkey, Israel and Brazil. The average class size in primary education is 22 students per class - about the same as the last measure in 2000.

Asti general secretary John White said inadequate funding for second-level education had resulted in large class sizes and poorly resourced schools.

Mr White said: "Despite the fact that we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world, Ireland comes joint last out of 29 OECD countries when it comes to spending on each second-level student relative to GDP per capita.

He said Ireland's GDP per capita was the second highest in the EU and sixth in the world.

Overall, Ireland spends 4.6 per cent of its GDP on education compared to the OECD average of 5.8 per cent. "We should be near the top of the league, not at the bottom," Mr White said.

A breakdown of the report's figures shows Ireland's spending is lowest at primary level with $5,422 per child spent a year, compared with an OECD average of $5,832 and an EU average of $5,788.

Spending at secondary level averaged at $7,110 per child each year, compared with the OECD average of $7,276 and the EU average of $7,236.

Third-level spending was also under the average with $7,445 a year, compared with the OECD average of $7,951, but above the EU average of $7,192.

The report also shows Irish primary school teachers are some of the highest paid. Salaries for primary teachers range from $28,198 to nearly $52,930, while the OECD average was $27,723 to $45,666.

For Irish secondary teachers pay ranged from $28,198 to $52,930, while the OECD average was $29,772 to $51,879.