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New ambitious targets for Literacy and Numeracy

Education Minister Richard Bruton today published new, updated ambitious targets for numeracy and literacy in our schools, as part of the drive to achieve the best education service in Europe within a decade.

The Report published today shows that all of the targets set for reading and maths at primary level in the 2011 Literacy and Numeracy Strategy were reached and significant progress has been made towards achievement of the targets at post-primary. These results are confirmed by recent strong results in the Programme for International Student Assessment and the Trends in International Maths and Science Study.

The Action Plan for Education, which has the overall aim of making Ireland the best education and training service in Europe within a decade, outlines a series of ambitious actions to further improve our performance in maths, including: introducing coding and computer science throughout the school curriculum; a comprehensive National Policy Statement on STEM Education in schools; and ambitious new measures to upskill maths teachers.

Minister Bruton said:

Every child has to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, regardless of their circumstances. Education has a unique capacity to break down the cycles of disadvantage. Our recently published DEIS Plan aims to increase the outcomes for students in more disadvantaged schools. I want, for example, to see an increase of 42% in the number of pupils in disadvantaged urban primary schools performing at the highest levels in maths at sixth class by 2020.

I believe the new and updated targets set, and the actions identified within this Report will enable us to focus on achieving the best results for our learners – and ultimately ensuring that every child has the opportunity to achieve their potential in life.