Ireland produces more graduates but lower skilled school leavers than peers, Moodys data shows

(Stock photo)

Sarah Collins

April 06 2021 02:40 PM

Ireland gets a relatively good bang for its buck on education spending including more third level graduates than most EU peers, but suffers from weak vocational training, research has shown.

Analysis by Moody’s investment services shows the country spends less than many of its EU counterparts to achieve better results at third level but raises question marks over how well prepared for the workforce young people are leaving education.

Ireland spends just above the EU average on education (12.6pc of total government spending compared to around 10pc in the EU but ) and comes out with the second-highest rate of university graduates (46.2pc of 20-34 year olds) in the EU.

Cyprus has the highest rate of third-level graduates (52.3pc) in the EU. The graduate rate is between 30pc and 40pc in the Nordic countries that are often seen as models for education, reflecting relatively low levels of vocational training here.

“A high share of people with tertiary education does not necessarily translate into better labour market outcomes,” Moody’s analysts said in Tuesday’s note.

The figures show Ireland only scores around half as well as its Nordic neighbours on the international Pisa student assessment rankings. The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.

Ireland has a “neutral to low exposure to education risk”, meaning education does not drag down the country’s creditworthiness, Moody’s said in a note on Tuesday.

But there is a large gap in employment rates between those holding second-level and third-level qualifications in Ireland.

“In Ireland, Latvia and Greece, the employment rate of those with general upper secondary education is higher than for vocational secondary education. Meanwhile, the gap between labour market outcomes for tertiary education and vocational secondary is the largest in these countries.

“This suggests that, in these countries, the value-added of vocational programmes is limited from a labour market perspective.”

The Nordic countries, Poland and Slovenia are the best performers in the EU27 on the overall rankings, which better outcomes for core subjects (reading, maths, science).

There are only three EU countries - Denmark, Finland and Sweden - where education has a positive impact on sovereign rankings, Moody’s said.