IRELAND: Universities woo maths students

Irish universities have bowed to political and business pressures and agreed to give additional 'weighting' to higher level mathematics in the secondary schools' Leaving Certificate examination - but they are not convinced it will do much to boost the numbers taking maths at the higher level.

Entry to university by school leavers is determined by the combined results of six subjects in the Leaving Certificate which are converted into 'points'. A student who gets an A1 grade on a higher level paper is awarded 100 points but concerns had been raised that relatively few were taking mathematics at higher level and that most were opting for the easier ordinary level. Only 16% of Leaving Certificate students take maths at the higher level, which is a much lower proportion than for other subjects.

Business leaders said the low take-up was leading to fewer studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses in higher education, and this, in turn, was affecting Ireland's prospects of economic recovery. Government ministers took the same view but the education community was not convinced. Somewhat embarrassingly for the government, a ministry-appointed maths committee could not make up its mind on the issue and simply listed the arguments for and against.

During the summer it was revealed that the academic councils in two universities, the National University of Ireland, Galway, and University College Cork, had come out strongly against bonus points for honours maths. Cork made the valid points that about a tenth of secondary schools were not in a position to offer honours level mathematics and that many maths teachers did not have maths as a major subject in their degrees.

However, ministers and industry kept up the pressure saying bonus points would increase the numbers taking higher maths, reward effort for a difficult subject and stimulate greater interest in the STEM subjects. They were backed by a taskforce on innovation which outlined various measures to turn Ireland into a 'smart economy'.

This week, the Irish Universities Association which represents the heads of the seven universities bowed to the inevitable, as one source said, "if only to get it off the table".

From 2012 onwards a student will get an extra 25 points if they pass higher level maths. Thus a student with an A1 will get 125 points while a student who gets a D3, which is worth 45 points at present, will get 70 points in two years' time.

The universities want greater efforts to upskill maths teachers and want Education Minister Mary Coughlan to ensure that all secondary schools are in a position to offer higher level maths. But that might be slightly more difficult to achieve.