HOMES WITH a lack of reading material, and televisions in the bedrooms, were contributing to low literacy levels among children, Minister for Education Mary Coughlan told the Dáil.

She was responding to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study. The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) survey revealed that literacy levels in Ireland had dropped more significantly than in any other OECD country.

“It was not money,” said Ms Coughlan. “It was the priority: books or television?” The Minister said she was working towards improved teacher qualification and an emphasis on curriculum change in literacy and numeracy.

Fine Gael spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said the report had shown appalling education results during the Celtic Tiger era.

One in six students had significant reading problems, with 23 per cent of males having a literacy level below “functional literacy”.

That meant they could not communicate in society, he said.

Mr O’Dowd called for a crusade for literacy in the schools and a radical shake-up in the administrative system within the Department of Education. Teachers should be empowered to get the best results for all children.

“You are failing those who are most vulnerable,” he added.

“How, in the name of God, can they get jobs and compete with those who came top of Pisa’s scores?”

Deirdre Clune (FG) said she had been struck by the observation in the report that “we cannot assume that all Irish primary teachers are proficient in the teaching of literacy and numeracy”.

Ms Coughlan said that while Ireland’s ranking in science, between 2006 and 2009 had risen, it fell from fifth to 17th in reading between 2000 and 2009 and from 20th to 26th in mathematics between 2003 and 2009.

“While I welcome the results Irish students achieved in the Pisa tests for science, I am disappointed with the results in reading and maths,” said Ms Coughlan.

“The extent of the falls in the reading scores of Irish students are surprising, as Irish students scored well above average in reading in all previous rounds of Pisa.’’

Ms Coughlan said the national assessments of mathematics and English reading also showed stable literacy and numeracy levels among Irish primary students and standards had remained constant in the State examinations taken by all students at post-primary level.

Irish students also obtained a high literacy-related score in the International Civic and Citizenship Education study, ranking seventh out of 36 participating countries last year.

Ms Coughlan said her department had detailed studies of the Irish Pisa data completed by the educational research centre and by an independent team of experts from Statistics Canada.

“Both teams of experts have concluded that some, but not all, of the lower scores in reading and maths are explained by changes in the demographics of the group of 15-year-olds taking the test,” she added.

“Greater numbers of students whose first language is not Irish or English are now in classrooms, as are greater numbers of students with special educational needs.”

The State, said Ms Coughlan, was now more successful in keeping children in education longer, but this meant there were weaker performing students taking the Pisa test who might not have stayed in school previously.