Earlier this month saw
the publication of the latest PISA results by the OECD. These measure the performance of
15-year-old school pupils in reading, mathematics and science.

The results badly weaken
the case of those who say the teaching of religion in our schools is dragging
down academic standards because Ireland ranks well in the tables. On the
other hand the United Kingdom and, even more so, that bastion of political
correctness, Sweden, fare poorly. As usual, East Asian countries fare best.

There were 38 European
countries taking part in 2012’s PISA tests (counting England, Scotland,
Wales and N. Ireland as separate countries). Of these 38, Ireland ranked 2nd in reading,
10th in mathematics and 6th in science. Ireland’s aggregate score across the three
subjects was the 7th highest of the 38 European countries.

Ireland scored higher
than all of the United Kingdom countries in each of the three subjects.

Sweden performed badly. Already
the recriminations have started in Sweden, and, interestingly, among the
explanations being given for its poor performance is the ‘lack of
parental authority’ in that country.

Others blame the fact
that almost every child in Sweden from the age of one is placed in day-care. The
huge rate of family breakdown in Sweden surely can’t be overlooked either.

In recent years,
Ireland’s education system has come under attack for its preponderance of Faith
schools and the time devoted to teaching religion. But, the PISA tests show
that Ireland is outperforming the vast majority of countries that have no
Church involvement in education and devote little time to teaching religion.

A good maxim to apply in
life generally and to Ireland’s education system in particular is, ‘If it’s not broke,
don’t fix it’. If Ireland’s current education system was dismantled and replaced by a largely secularised
system, as most secularists want, what reason is there to think that it would
perform better than it is at present? It could easily do a lot worse.