The State Examinations Commission is under pressure to explain the content of yesterday's Leaving Cert higher level maths paper, after teachers and students labelled it "impossible" and "disgraceful".
The ASTI subject representative for maths, Eileen Scanlon, said the paper was "outrageous" and appeared designed to catch out both students and the teachers who had instructed them.
The controversy comes at a time when the Government and business leaders are attempting to revive a subject, which has dipped in popularity. Only 11,000 students took higher level maths yesterday, a fraction of the numbers taking honours level in most other subjects.
The examinations commission said it had received a small number of complaints about the paper and these would be brought to the attention of the chief examiner.
Yesterday's paper came after the maths chief examiner complained last year of "a noticeable slippage over a relatively short period of time in the quality of work" being presented by higher-level candidates. He said students were using rote-learning techniques but were often incapable of independent thinking.
Teachers say yesterday's paper 2 was designed to put rote learners - and those who had learned off grind-school notes - at a disadvantage over those who can employ independent mathematical reasoning.
Last week, in an Irish Times article, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern backed less emphasis on rote learning and a greater role for independent thinking in a reformed Leaving Cert exam.
Ms Scanlon said she was "very angry" that the union's representations for clearer, more relevant maths papers had been ignored yet again.
Students were reportedly thrown into a panic by yesterday's trigonometry question, regarded as a "banker" by teachers and students.
Teachers felt the question was outrageously difficult. "Whoever set that paper hasn't a clue what's going on in classrooms," one said.
Aidan Roantree of the Institute of Education in Dublin said the paper was more difficult than in recent years. "There was, for example, a photograph of the great pyramid at Giza in Egypt," he said. "Students are used to seeing diagrams rather than photographs. This may have thrown a few.
The probability question, which students could have taken instead of trigonometry, was also regarded as complicated and confusing by many students.
Last month, a report compiled largely by maths teachers at third level complained that many higher-level maths students had little basic understanding of the subject.
