Vol. 520 No. 5
44 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister if, in view of the fact that almost a third of pupils are falling behind in reading he will state the proposals he has to improve the provision of remedial teaching in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16122/00]
The evidence available on pupils' reading progress and standards arises from two sources. One study was conducted in 1990-91 by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement – IEA – in which both Irish nine year olds and 14 year olds participated. At both age levels, Irish pupils scored just above the international average. Further analysis of the data from this study by the Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra, indicated that between 6.5% to 8.5% of Irish 14 year olds had serious literacy difficulties.
There is an estimate from the 1993 national English reading survey, which was conducted by the Educational Research Centre in conjunction with the inspectorate of my Department, that between 6.5% to 9.5% of Irish 11 year old pupils have serious literacy difficulties. Pupils reading achievements are highly correlated with their ability. In the absence of information on the ability of each individual pupil, there is no evidence to suggest that almost a third of pupils are falling behind in reading.
My Department has allocated 1,465 remedial teachers at primary level and 560 whole time equivalents at second level to support the lowest performing 10% of pupils. Six courses are organised every year to train approximately 150 remedial teachers.
Revised guidelines on learning support/ remedial education will be published this year. The revised primary curriculum has been sent to all schools during this year. A significant programme of in-career development of teachers in regard to the introduction of the English curriculum has taken place. There is an increased emphasis in the English curriculum on raising literacy standards through the development of reading skills as part of a whole language process.
