Irish Education Under the Microscope

The OECD has published its 'Education at a Glance' study

The proportion of young people in Ireland who are unemployed and not engaged in any training or education programme is higher than other developed countries, according to a study published by the OECD.

This year's ‘Education at a Glance’ report found that 22% of Irish young people are in this category, compared to an EU and OECD average of 15%.

In its latest report comparing education systems and outcomes the OECD has found that young people here are far more likely to complete second level education.

Two years ago, 93% of Irish teenagers were expected to complete secondary school, compared to an average OECD rate of 84%.

However despite high rates of educational achievement here the OECD says Ireland's general unemployment rates remain higher than average compared to other member states.

On spending, the latest data finds that Ireland has the third greatest annual expenditure per student compared to all other OECD countries.

In the classroom, this study finds that Ireland's pupil teacher ratio is worse than the OECD and EU average.

The study finds that Irish teachers engage in more teaching time than average, at 915 hours per year at Primary level here compared to an average of 761 hours annually across EU states.

The figure at second level is also considerably higher than the average.

The study finds that teachers here are well paid by OECD and EU standards. Salaries here are higher at all levels compared to the average across other countries.

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