Ireland among the best OECD countries for reducing education inequality

Ireland has been ranked as one of the best countries for reducing education inequality among children.

The country came in second for making educational opportunities fairer in a new report, beating countries like Denmark, the UK and Spain. The report, 'An Unfair Start: Inequality in Children's Education in Rich Countries', was compiled by Unicef using data from 41 European Union and OECD states. The top spot on the list went to Latvia. The report highlights that while Ireland falls in the bottom half of the table when it comes to preschool enrolment, we are almost top of the class in reducing inequality in reading scores by the time pupils are 15. It's not all good news, though - Unicef highlighted concerns that certain groups are at risk of being marginalised in education. Children from Traveller families, those who are homeless and those from migrant families are most likely to be left behind due to a lack of educational supports. The report also noted that one in ten children in Ireland have not reached basic proficiency in reading by the age of 15. Across the 41 countries, the was a gender difference in reading scores. Girls in Ireland do two per cent better than boys in their reading abilities by the age of 15, while in Bulgaria the difference is 12 per cent in girls' favour. Unicef concluded that a country's "high income is no guarantee of high equality."

"Some of the poorest countries included in this report, such as Latvia and Lithuania, have higher preschool enrolment rates and lower inequality in reading performance in primary and secondary school than those with far greater resources," the report reads. "However, almost universally, children from less privileged families do worse. Yet, the data reveal there is much more inequality within countries than there is between countries."