Sweeping changes in Leaving Cert maths are being proposed by a key advisory group to Minister for Education Mary Hanafin amid increasing concern about the high failure rate in the subject.
A review of maths due to be published next month expresses concern about the difficulty of the subject at Leaving Cert level. It also signals that foundation level maths should be scrapped.
In a worrying development, the discussion paper reports how maths standards in the Republic compare poorly to other OECD states.
The review says the "formal language and rigorous specification of questions" in maths papers belong to another era. It says a "root and branch review" of the subject, the first since the 1960s, may now be required.
Attention will again focus on maths and science subjects when the Leaving Cert results are released tomorrow. Last year, almost 10,000 students failed either ordinary level or foundation level maths, making them ineligible for many third-level courses.
The review from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) - made up of all the education partners - will be sent to Ms Hanafin shortly. The NCCA hopes to involve schools, the employers body Ibec, and other business interests in a major public debate on changes to the subject. Ibec has said poor standards in maths could undermine our economic ambitions.
The NCCA says third-level lecturers have expressed concern about the "low level of maths knowledge and skills shown by students . . . and their inability to cope with basic concepts and skills". It also refers to the inability of many students to "use or apply maths except in the simplest or most practised way".
The NCCA also expresses unease about the poor take-up of higher-level maths in the Leaving. Only about 18 per cent of students take higher-level maths whereas over 60 per cent take honours English. This is due to the "perceived difficulty of maths and the "elitist" status of maths in some schools. Over 70 per cent of all Leaving Cert students take ordinary level and a further 11 per cent take foundation level.
The review proposes a series of new measures including:
The NCCA says the revised maths courses at primary and Junior Cert level could over time improve the situation but it warns that it took the Netherlands over 20 years to achieve real progress.
