Sir,– Your Editorial (December 14th) examines the results of the international rankings of primary school pupils and reports that the Republic performed creditably in reading but the results in science and maths were less encouraging.
May I point out that there is another education system in operation in Ireland which you have missed completely in your editorial?
In Northern Ireland primary schools children tested were better at maths and reading than children in any other English-speaking country in the world. They were fifth in the international survey in reading ability and sixth in mathematics out of 45 participating nations. While the level for science was slightly lower it was still significantly above the international average.– Yours, etc,