Quinn's reforms are a welcome start

Ruairí Quinn has brought a valuable quality to the role of Minister for Education: he chooses to believe what reliable international indicators say about Irish educational standards rather than the conventional wisdom of the educational establishment. It is to be hoped that immersion in that establishment doesn't dim the minister's perception. The fact is that survey after survey, especially, but not limited to the OECD/Pisa data, says that, at best, Ireland is a ...