merrion street

The Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock T.D., has today welcomed the latest OECD PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results.

In science, Irish students are ranked 9th out of 34 OECD countries, performing above the OECD average and up five places since 2009.

Speaking this morning, Minister Sherlock said: “It is particularly encouraging to see the dramatic improvement of our 15 year olds in science, and that Irish girls and boys doing equally well on the science test. Teachers and students alike deserve great credit for this significant improvement.”

The Minister noted that while the results in maths have improved and Ireland’s performance in Mathematics is now ranked 13th out of the 34 OECD countries, there has been little change in the scores since Ireland first participated in PISA in 2000.

“Although Irish students are performing well and results are improving, there is still more work to do, particularly in the area of mathematics,” he said.

“Last month I launched the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)Education Review Group, which is chaired by Professor Brian McCraith, President of DCU. The PISA results are extremely timely and will inform the work of Professor McCraith’s Group as it seeks ways to enhance education in at both primary and second level. “