Teachers, parents and the Government will be closely examining the findings of this year's OECD report on educational standards in Ireland and throughout the industrialised world. Whereas in years gone by this State had much to fear from reports such as Education At a Glance, we now expect to find Irish pupils among the best performers in the education sphere.
This year the Republic's pupils and teachers have turned in a strong performance, with students well placed in many disciplines and in some areas outperforming pupils from some of the more powerful and wealthier economies in Europe.
The OECD researchers do not delve deeply into the reasons for our strong performance, but there appears to be several contributing factors.
One is that teachers drive their pupils hard and demand high standards. The role of the parent is also seen as important, and it appears that Irish homes are conducive to learning and study.
While few would quibble with the assertion by the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, that Ireland "comes out well in many of the OECD's comparisons", there are still serious issues to be tackled throughout the education system. For example the performance of pupils in maths was unimpressive. Attention is also drawn to the large class sizes in the Republic, particularly at primary level.
The report also points to the State's lamentable performance in the area of adult education.
For too many years, education in this country simply stopped at 18 or if you were lucky 21 or 22. This is no longer acceptable in the age of the 'knowledge economy'. Education has to be available to people throughout their lives. To be fair the minister has acknowledged the point as a matter of "continuing concern". But action now needs to replace concern.
The problems at primary level and in the adult education sector are varied and complex. For example, reforms at primary level take a long time to pay off and often cost a lot of money.
But with the apparent ending of hostilities in the teachers' pay campaign, the minister now has a good chance to concentrate on these touchstone issues.
While his political focus may be on the controversial issue of third level fees, Mr Dempsey and his colleagues in the Government should not forget that there is a lot more to education than what happens at university.