A: Enrolment in education is growing.
A1. Enrolment is growing at all levels of the education system, with the
fastest growth in post-secondary education.
Enrolments of Full-time Students in Institutions Aided by the Department of Education and Skills1
Level
First Level
Second Level (includes PLC)
PLC
Third Level
Total
2002/2003
2012/2013
443,720
340,365
28,649
129,283
913,368
526,422
362,847
35,524
164,863
1,054,132
Ten year
increase
82,702
22,482
6,875
35,580
140,764
% growth over
10 years
18.6
6.6
24.0
27.5
15.4
A2.The free pre-school, year has had a very high take-up.
The numbers enrolled in 2013/14 Preschool Year are 68,000 children and that represents
approximately 95% of the eligible cohort of children.
1
Department of Education and Skills, Key Statistics 2012-13. Available at
https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Key-Statistics/
1
A3. Enrolment projections.
The Department of Education and Skills has produced projections of demand for access to
education, based on demographic and participation forecasts.
Enrolment in primary education is expected to peak between 2018-2021 depending on
which projection is used, and decline steadily after that.
Secondary enrolment is expected to peak between 2026 and 2028, and then decline.
For third level, three scenarios were used (M1, 2 and 3), and each shows a growth of over
30% in entrants to higher education by 2027.
DES projections for full time enrolment in third level education 2013-20162
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
Increase 2013-2027
% increase
M1
42331
44,631
45,695
46,145
46,397
46,590
47,178
48,134
49,075
49,884
50,204
51,193
53,294
55,127
56,383
14,052
33.2
M2
42331
44,631
45,663
46,104
46,341
46,507
47,096
48,034
48,954
49,701
49,969
50,908
52,959
54,726
55,906
13,575
32.1
M3
42331
44,631
45,632
46,048
46,259
46,405
46,961
47,862
48,747
49,459
49,688
50,587
52,597
54,305
55,410
13,079
30.9
2
Department of Education and Skills, 2013. Projections of Demand For Full-Time Third-Level Education, 2013
– 2027. July 2013.
2
B: Educational attainment is high
B1. Ireland has high level of educational attainment by OECD standards 3
In Ireland, the percentage of today's young people expected to graduate from upper secondary
education of general programme is one of the highest among OECD and G20 countries with available
data. (67.8 %, rank 7/36).
The percentage of today's young people expected to graduate from tertiary-type A (academic)
programmes before turning 30 in Ireland ranks as one of the highest among OECD and G20 countries
with available data. (38.1 %, rank 6/25).
B2. Early school leaving is lower than the EU average, but still 10% leave
school early.
Although educational attainment is high, 9.7% of Irish students leave school early. The rate of early
school leaving is higher for boys than girls.
Early school leaving 2012.4
Country
Total
Slovenia
Slovakia
Czech Republic
Poland
Lithuania
Sweden
Austria
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Finland
Denmark
Ireland
Germany
Estonia
Latvia
Greece
Cyprus
Hungary
France
Belgium
Bulgaria
EU
United Kingdom
Romania
Italy
Portugal
Malta
Spain
4.4
5.3
5.5
5.7
6.5
7.5
7.6
8.1
8.8
8.9
9.1
9.7
10.5
10.5
10.5
11.4
11.4
11.5
11.6
12.0
12.5
12.8
13.5
17.4
17.6
20.8
22.6
24.9
Males
5.4
6.0
6.1
7.8
8.2
8.5
7.9
10.7
10.2
9.8
10.8
11.2
11.1
14.0
14.5
13.7
16.5
12.2
13.4
14.4
12.1
14.5
14.6
18.0
20.5
27.1
27.5
28.8
Females
3.2
4.6
4.9
3.5
4.6
6.3
7.3
5.5
7.3
8.1
7.4
8.2
9.8
7.1
6.2
9.1
7.0
10.7
9.8
9.5
13.0
11.0
12.4
16.7
14.5
14.3
17.6
20.8
3
OECD 2013 Education at a Glance. Overview for Ireland.
Central Statistics Office “Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2012”,
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/pmip/measuringirelandsprogress2012/education/education/#d.en.58209
4
3
B3. Participation in third level education is among the highest in the EU.
EU: Persons aged 25-34 with third level education, 20125
Country
% of people aged 25-34 with
third level education.
Cyprus
53.7
Luxembourg
48.5
Lithuania
48.4
Ireland
46.9
United Kingdom
44.4
Sweden
43.6
Belgium
42.6
Estonia
41.9
France
41.2
Netherlands
40.5
Finland
39.7
Latvia
38.0
Spain
37.7
Denmark
36.8
Poland
36.7
EU
34.8
Slovenia
34.5
Greece
32.6
Hungary
31.9
Portugal
29.8
Germany
29.0
Romania
28.3
Czech Republic
27.4
Slovakia
27.0
Bulgaria
27.0
Malta
26.1
Austria
23.1
Italy
22.1
B4. Higher education has become more inclusive of students with
disabilities.
Participation of students with disabilities at 3rd level has more than doubled in the last 6 years to
4.6% of the student population.6
However, participation is low in some areas. For example, just 1.8 percent of students with
disabilities study Education compared to 5.4% of the total population of students who study
education (AHEAD, 2012). 7
5
Central Statistics Office “Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2012”,
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/pmip/measuringirelandsprogress2012/education/educatio
n/#d.en.58209
6
AHEAD (2008; 2012). Data Centre: Year on Year Changes. http://www.ahead.ie/datacentre-yearonyear
7
AHEAD (2012). Fields of Study Disability Comparison. http://www.ahead.ie/datacentre-fieldsbydisability
4
C: The importance of a good education is increasing, for both social
and economic reasons.
C1. The economic returns to education have been increasing over time.
The World Bank has calculated that the economic returns to education (to the individual) have been
increasing steadily over the last 60 years. This suggests that education is increasingly important as
the determinant of income and career progression.
Economic returns to education 1950-20108
Year
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
% returns
24.9
25.6
25.7
27.3
27
27.3
27.9
30.7
31.8
30.9
32.8
34.4
36.3
% returns to education
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
Year
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
A number of factors may contribute to explaining this trend:
a) As the level of education in society grows, those without an education are increasingly
disadvantaged in access to employment and economic opportunities.
b) As technology displaces some of the more routine jobs, the differential in wage rate
between the high skill and routine occupations increases.
c) With transparent selection processes, formal educational achievements play a more
important role in determining access to employment.
8
Patrinos and Psacharopoulos, 2011, Education Past, Present and Future Global Challenges
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5616.
5
C2. Education is also associated with economic and social benefits for
countries9
•
A higher national educational attainment is associated with a higher per capita GDP.
•
Historically countries with higher rates of education have demonstrated higher rates of
economic growth.
•
Countries with higher rates of educational attainment have more equitable income
distributions (as measured by Gini coefficient).
The Gini coefficient is a measure of the inequality of wealth distribution (range 0-100) where lower
values indicate more equitable wealth distribution. Examples of Gini coefficients (top 5, lowest 5,
and selected countries), are shown below:10
Denmark
Japan
Sweden
Belarus
Czech Republic
Norway
Finland
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Ireland
Switzerland
Spain
Italy
United Kingdom
Portugal
United States
China
Singapore
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.
South Africa
Comoros
Namibia
Seychelles
Survey
year
1997
1993
2000
2011
1996
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
1999
1997
2000
2009
1998
2000
2009
2004
2004
2007
GINI
25
25
25
26
26
26
27
28
29
33
34
34
35
36
36
38
41
42
42
61
63
64
64
66
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
9
13
14
29
43
44
52
58
63
74
96
97
100
151
152
153
154
155
9
Patrinos and Psacharopoulos, 2011, Education Past, Present and Future Global Challenges
World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5616.
10
World Development Indicators. http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/2.9#
6
D: Despite high participation and attainment, our system is facing
challenges
D1. The children in our schools come from diverse homes
The child population of Ireland increased by 13.4% between 2002 and 2011. The report “The State of
the National Children 2012” reveals that:
Approximately 1 in 6 children in Ireland live in a lone-parent household (Census of the
Population, 2011).
The number of foreign national children increased by 49.5% between 2006 and 2011
(Census of the Population, 2011).
Almost 6% of the child population in Ireland have a disability (Census of the Population,
2011).
Twice as many girls as boys present to hospital emergency departments following deliberate
self-harm (National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm Ireland, 2011).
Approximately 1 in every 9 primary school children miss 20 days or more in the school year
(Primary Pupil Absence Report, 2009/10)
Approximately 1 in every 6 post-primary school children miss 20 days or more in the school
year (Post-primary Pupil Absence Report, 2009/10)11
There has been a significant decrease in the percentage of 15-year-old children who report
that their parents discuss with them how well they are doing at school (PISA Survey, 2009).
Percentage of children aged 15 who report that their parents discuss with them how well they are
doing at school several times a week, by gender and social class (2000, 2006 and 2009).12
All children
Gender
Boys
Girls
Social class
High SES
Medium SES
Low SES
2000
47.9
2006
48.0
2009
42.8
45.7
50.0
44.1
51.6
39.4
46.3
51.3
46.7
45.1
50.0
50.0
43.5
46.6
43.6
37.9
11
Department of Children and Youth Affairs. 2012. The State of the Nations Children. Government
Publications.
12
Department of Children and Youth Affairs. 2012. The State of the Nations Children. Government
Publications. Page 49. Data from PISA surveys.
7
D2. The use of time in primary schools is dominated by English, Irish and
mathematics and religious education.
The “Growing Up In Ireland” study found that the average time devoted to English, Irish and
mathematics accounted for more than half of all teaching time in primary schools.
Science and Art each received an average of only one hour per week.
S
Average hours per week by subject area.13
D3. At secondary level, not all achieve good results
In 2013 the CAO calculated “points” scores for 52,767 people. The distribution shows that 40% of
those who sat the Leaving Certificate (which already excludes the early school leavers) achieved less
than 300 points, while 34% achieved over 400 points.
To express this another way, if a class of 30 students was representative of the national picture, the
Leaving Certificate results would be reflected in the following distribution:
No of students in a
representative class of 30
Under 200
7
200-299
5
300-399
8
400-499
7
500+
3
13
McCoy, Selina; Smyth, Emer; Banks, Joanne. (2012). The Primary Classroom: Insights from the 'Growing Up
in Ireland' Study. ESRI and NCCA. 2012. Page 9.
8
D4. Points scores show a slow increase in average Leaving Certificate
performance.
The distribution of points scores changed slightly between 2000 and 2013. The proportion scoring
less than 300 points fell from 50% to 41%, and the proportion scoring 400 or more rise from 25% to
34%.
The distribution of points scores 2000-2013 (in % of applicants)14
2000
2005
2010
2011
2012
Under 200
29.2
26.6
24.9
24.7
23.3
200-299
20.6
19.2
19.1
18.4
18.2
300-399
25.5
25.4
25.4
25.6
25.1
400-499
19.1
21
22
22.6
23.6
500+
5.8
7.8
8.6
8.8
9.8
2013
22.8
18.1
25.4
24.3
9.4
The changes in the distribution of points scores 2000-2013.
100%
90%
80%
70%
500+
60%
400-499
50%
300-399
40%
200-299
30%
Under 200
20%
10%
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
14
http://www.napd.ie/cmsv1/phocadownload/lc%20points%20stats%202013.pdf
9
D5. But performance in problem solving is lower than performance in other
areas.
In the 2012 PISA study, 15 year old students took a test of problem solving.
Top five
Singapore
Korea
Japan
Macao-China
Hong Kong-China
Mean
score
562
561
552
540
540
Ireland and
closest scores
Austria
Alentejo (Portugal)
Norway
Ireland
Denmark
Basque Country (Spain)
Portugal
506
506
503
498
497
496
494
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
Bottom five
The Irish average was 498, just below the OECD average but well behind the leading systems
(all in Asia).15
Students in Ireland perform less well (by 18 points) on problem solving than would be
predicted on the basis of their performance on assessments of mathematics, reading and
science.
18 extra points would bring Ireland close to Finland on problem solving.
Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
North Region (Brazil)
Ajman (United Arab Emirates)
Ras Al Khaimah (UAE)
Umm Al Quwain (UAE)
391
383
375
373
372
76
77
78
79
80
Country or region
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
While overall Irish performance is average, these data suggest that relative to other countries, our
students are better at the content than at dealing with unfamiliar problems.
D6. Skills versus content – a global challenge.
An OECD global survey on Attitudes to Schooling (1995)16 found that;
the qualities parents deem most important for students to develop are self-confidence and
employability;
development of qualities is more important that learning subjects;
teachers are better at teaching subjects than developing qualities.
15
16
Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Table V.A.
OECD Education at a Glance 1995, OECD Paris.
10
D7. Ireland’s performance in teaching foreign languages is poor
The proportion of Irish students studying foreign languages in primary school is unusually
low:
100% of primary school students study a foreign language in Luxembourg and Sweden, 99%
in Italy, 98% in Spain.
In Ireland, just 3% of primary school students study a foreign language.17
Study of foreign languages is low throughout the system
Ireland and Scotland are the only countries in Europe where a foreign language is not
compulsory at any stage of the educational curriculum.18
19% of students in upper secondary school in Ireland are not studying any foreign
language.19
Just 2% to 3% of total enrolments (combined part-time and full-time) in HEA funded
third level institutions are studying a modern foreign language subject in a modern
foreign language course or in a modern foreign language as a main subject alongside
another, e.g., Business and French.20
We believe foreign languages are useful, but most of us do not speak them.
98% of Europeans consider mastering foreign languages as useful for the future of
their children.
60% of respondents in Ireland say they are unable to speak any foreign language.21
17
Eurostat Statistics in Focus 49, 2010
National Languages Strategy. Royal Irish Academy National Committee for Modern Language, Literary and
Cultural Studies, 2012
19
Eurostat Statistics in Focus 49, 2010
20
Key Skills for Enterprise to Trade Internationally, Forfás, Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, 2012, p. 13
21
Special Eurobarometer 386: Europeans and their Languages, 2012.
18
11
D8. Since 2008, public expenditure on education has declined fastest at
third level (on a per student basis).
Since 2008, public expenditure per student has fallen at all level, but the fall has been greatest at
third level. The changes in expenditure per student 2008-2012 were:
Primary education: fall of €89 per student
Secondary education: fall of €472 per student
Third level: Fall of €2,449 per student
Public expenditure on education 2003-201222
€ per student at 2012 prices
Year
First
Second
Third
€m at 2012 prices
Real current
public
expenditure
2003
5,390
7,825
10,539
6,687
2004
5,794
7,914
10,332
6,893
2005
5,898
8,262
10,689
7,133
2006
6,103
8,625
11,216
7,498
2007
6,246
9,085
11,078
7,822
2008
6,361
9,207
10,866
8,061
2009
6,605
9,307
10,314
8,343
2010
6,493
9,010
9,898
8,293
2011
6,455
8,911
9,161
8,326
2012
6,272
8,735
8,417
8,005
Level
Second level includes further education, e.g. post-Leaving Certificate programmes.
Public expenditure per student at third level is now lower than at secondary level.
12,000
€ per student at 2012 prices
11,000
10,000
9,000
First
8,000
Second
7,000
Third
6,000
5,000
4,000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
22
Central Statistics Office “Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2012”,
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/pmip/measuringirelandsprogress2012/education/education/#d.en.58209
12