The quality of education in this country is shite so no surprises here really.
Edit: I forgot that I’m on r/Ireland where people just really cannot stand any criticism of Ireland or Irish people no matter how blatantly true or fair it is. My bad lads.
Is this the canary in the coal mine, or a rare example of Ireland getting excellent value for money in public spending?
I feel like we regularly hit near the top of education quality and accessibility rankings?
Yet we’re ranked so high when compared to our peers. Excellent outcomes that don’t cost a premium. Great result.
Our government takes in more and more money while our services turn to shit.
Of course we invest so little we have bike sheds and pakettes to install.
> when it comes to the proportion of its GDP that it invests in education.
Stopped reading there
Whenever someone quotes GDP in the context of government spending, it’s because they want more. Our GDP is a crappy distorted number. Looking at spending per pupil we’re more like middle of the pack but below the likes of the UK, and could afford to do more.
Our GDP is meaningless, but the one thing I would say is when I did a total spend on education in € divided by population, Ireland seemed to be spending slightly less than the UK per capita, which is surprising.
As % of GDP isn’t useful but raw €$£ spending per student in similar high income countries should give a much better idea of it.
GDP measurements for Ireland doesn’t make any sense given the makeup of our economy.
Excuse me! The only metrics we like here are the ones that make us look good.
Every year or two we get a story like this, using our bonkers GDP numbers to claim the Irish state doesn’t spend enough on Education (usually when the teachers unions are pushing for pay rises). We are most definitely a high tax and high spend state, with some of the highest paid (and pensioned) teachers in Europe.
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Before anyone mentions that GDP isn’t a good measure for Ireland :
It’s not just a a problem relative to GDP. We’re below average on spend per pupil as well (in dollars purchasing power).
Ireland spends $10,959 per pupil at primary level.
OECD Average is $11,905
Germany: $12,829
UK: $13,797
US: $15,270
Denmark: $15,598
[https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2024_c00cad36-en/full-report/component-20.html#chapter-d1e19374-df8331a747](https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2024_c00cad36-en/full-report/component-20.html#chapter-d1e19374-df8331a747)
The quality of education in this country is shite so no surprises here really.
Edit: I forgot that I’m on r/Ireland where people just really cannot stand any criticism of Ireland or Irish people no matter how blatantly true or fair it is. My bad lads.
Is this the canary in the coal mine, or a rare example of Ireland getting excellent value for money in public spending?
I feel like we regularly hit near the top of education quality and accessibility rankings?
Yet we’re ranked so high when compared to our peers. Excellent outcomes that don’t cost a premium. Great result.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/study-shows-ireland-ranks-third-for-education-quality-and-access-1579730.html
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/12/05/irish-teenagers-are-second-best-in-the-world-at-reading/
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41139982.html
Our government takes in more and more money while our services turn to shit.
Of course we invest so little we have bike sheds and pakettes to install.
> when it comes to the proportion of its GDP that it invests in education.
Stopped reading there
Whenever someone quotes GDP in the context of government spending, it’s because they want more. Our GDP is a crappy distorted number. Looking at spending per pupil we’re more like middle of the pack but below the likes of the UK, and could afford to do more.
Our GDP is meaningless, but the one thing I would say is when I did a total spend on education in € divided by population, Ireland seemed to be spending slightly less than the UK per capita, which is surprising.
As % of GDP isn’t useful but raw €$£ spending per student in similar high income countries should give a much better idea of it.
GDP measurements for Ireland doesn’t make any sense given the makeup of our economy.
Excuse me! The only metrics we like here are the ones that make us look good.
Every year or two we get a story like this, using our bonkers GDP numbers to claim the Irish state doesn’t spend enough on Education (usually when the teachers unions are pushing for pay rises). We are most definitely a high tax and high spend state, with some of the highest paid (and pensioned) teachers in Europe.