Vol. 509 No. 3
81 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Education and Science the results of the recent national surveys of reading and numeracy carried out in primary schools; the proportion of children found to be performing significantly below the expectation for their age group; and the way in which figures compare with comparable data in Sweden and in the EU as a whole. [20010/99]
National surveys of English reading of pupils in fifth class were conducted by the Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra, in 1993 and 1998. The reports of these surveys are not yet available. A survey of the mathematical achievement of pupils in fourth class was conducted in May 1999 and the results are being analysed at present. The report of this survey will be available next year.
There is an estimate from the National Survey of English Reading (1993) that about 6.5 per cent – 9.5 per cent of pupils have serious literacy difficulties. International surveys indicate literacy levels for Irish nine and 14 year olds of just above average. Data on the proportion of children found to be performing significantly below the expectation for their age group in mathematics are not available.
The 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study involved Irish pupils in third and fourth classes. The results showed that the mean mathematics scores of Irish pupils in both class grades were higher than the corresponding international mean mathematics scores. Sweden did not participate but Irish pupils' mean achievements were better, except for those of pupils from the Netherlands, than those of other European countries participating, including England and Scotland.
The reading performance of Irish nine year olds was assessed in the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Study of 1991. Irish pupils scored above the international mean and in a group of five EU countries performed at the average level. Sweden was in a group of eight EU countries that performed significantly above the international average.
