Children in Ireland outperform those in many other developed countries when it comes to their ability to read computer-based text documents, a new study has found.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tested students in 19 countries around the world, with Ireland coming eighth in the table.

However, this contrasts with figures that have shown a decline in standards in recent years in traditional pen-and-paper literacy tests.

Dr Peter Archer, director of the Educational Research Centre, suggested the difference in performance may be due to the fact that students are more familiar and more interested in the digital content.

Commenting on the results, Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said that, while it is encouraging to see that Irish children compare well with their counterparts in other OECD countries in this area, "there is clearly no room for complacency about reading standards in our schools".

Earlier this month, Mr Quinn pledged a series of policies to boost the literacy and numeracy of Irish students with an aim to returning the country to the top of international tables for the skills, as Ireland has slipped down the rankings in recent years.

Written by Donal Walsh
 

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