Whaling gets more debate than education, teachers’ leader says

Mbl.is reports that education receives less discussion in Icelandic public life and parliament than whaling, according to Magnús Þór Jónsson, chairman of the Icelandic Teachers’ Association.

“If I were to add up the minutes from recent parliamentary sessions on whaling and school matters, I know whaling would clearly come out on top,” Magnús said. “I do not think that is good, because we are talking about 80,000 people in preschools, primary schools and secondary schools every day.”

Magnús was speaking on the Dagmál programme alongside Jón Pétur Zimsen, a member of parliament for the Independence Party. They discussed the state of education in Iceland and how to improve the academic performance of primary school pupils.

Magnús said education tends to receive intense attention for a short time after the publication of PISA results, but that there is little discussion between assessments about how to improve pupils’ performance. When people do sit down to discuss the issues, he said, the debate is often withdrawn before it leads to action.

“When we try to create a social agreement on issues where we disagree, I often feel that the discussion is somehow pulled back,” he said.

Both men agreed that education is one of the most important policy areas, as the population’s level of education affects the country’s economy in the long term. Magnús said Iceland needed a dialogue that could produce progress.

The full Dagmál programme is available to everyone.