How can Ireland claim to have a world-class education system if it has one of the shortest academic years?, writes ORNA MULCAHY
WE’RE ALL done with the holidays in this household. We’ve been away and had cousins to stay. We’ve sent the children to camp and to Irish college, and welcomed them back with gala barbecues.
We've been to the beach, seen Harry Potterand gone shopping for new shoes and pencil cases. The books are covered and in the bag. Now, surely is it not time for them to be back at school? You would think so but no. There's still almost a fortnight left before term starts officially in the week of September 1st. The older two have been off since the end of May.
It may be that their first week back is shorter than normal as teachers ease themselves into the job. Some reorientation may be necessary for those who’ve enjoyed a full three-month break as information will have been erased. I’m not knocking teachers. After a fortnight away from my own desk, I need retraining.
But the slow start-up to the academic year is baffling, as is the fairly rapid wind-down, with the odd hiatus in between.
Parents can expect gaps in the week for curriculum familiarisation days, staff training, swine flu preparation workshops, and so on until the mid-term break in October and after that, sure it’s nearly Christmas.
My generation grew up being told that Ireland has an education system second to none, but how can that be when children spend so few days in school? We have one of the shortest academic years in the world, with one of the longest summer holidays, designed back in the 1920s to suit an agricultural economy and not given much thought since. The school year is a mere 183 days at primary level compared to an average of 195 for Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development countries and more than 200 for east Asian countries.
It’s even shorter at post-primary level, with schools obliged to open for just 167 days in the year.
According to a recent report in the Economistmagazine, long summer holidays and short academic terms are making the children of the West lazy and forgetful. It claims that over the summer break the average child forgets a month's worth of tuition in many subjects and almost three times that in maths.
No wonder so many of them fall down in higher maths.
American academics have come up with a handy term for the phenomenon, “summer learning loss”. Barack Obama is concerned, as well he might be with two young children going through the system. He has asked school administrators to rethink the school day, in other words, to make it longer.
Meanwhile, management consultancy McKinsey is arguing that the poor performance of American schoolchildren will have a more devastating long-term effect on the US economy than the recession. Before long, the brain jobs will follow the brawn jobs. Parents, it warns, will see their children’s jobs taken by the Chinese.
Frankly, I'm terrified. With a Leaving and a Junior Cert candidate in the house, the issue is sharply in focus. I'm prepared to do what I can. There'll be plenty of oily fish on the menu and a good angle poise lamp in each of their bedrooms. If I have to, I'll read King Lear, but I'd feel happier if they were facing into a longer school year with not quite so many random gaps and half-days.
That’s not to be, judging by the 09/10 timetable slipped in between the book list and the fees demand. It runs to two pages, and there are at least three Mondays marked “no classes for junior or senior school”. Why? Call me cynical but it smacks of a nice long weekend for all concerned. “Could be any number of reasons,” a teacher friend tells me. “In-house training. Then we had a ‘dignity in the workplace’ day once and then there are report conferences where we get together to do the reports.”
He’s all for change and wouldn’t mind adopting a more European school year model, with just six weeks holidays in the summer, but says he won’t go on the record in case a colleague slashes his tyres in the car park.
Teachers will tell you the Irish school day is longer and more intense than the European model, and that children are exhausted by March or April, especially if they sign up for extra study periods (at a cost of over €100 per term in some cases).
Parents who can afford it will extend the academic year further by enrolling children in expensive preparation and revision courses, run by private colleges like the Institute of Education, where next week, some of the country’s best teachers will be available for a “get ready for the Leaving Cert” week of tuition.
It’s a lucrative nixer, and what else have they to be doing at this stage of the summer?