Call to scrap compulsory maths

A PASS grade in maths should no longer be compulsory for entry to third level, a major education conference has heard.

Each year, 16% of boys taking Leaving Certificate maths fail the exam, a result which prevents them from going on to third level, delegates at the Irish Vocational Education Association conference heard last night.

Irish is no longer compulsory in our schools and we should now look at ending the need for a pass grade in maths, before continuing on to third level, Clare VEC vice chairman Flan Garvey proposed.

“Sixteen per cent of boys fail maths, even pass maths, and can not go on to a further institution.

“They don’t get a leaving certificate. They can be good at other subjects so why should one subject mean they are a failure at Leaving Certificate and deny them the opportunity to go on to further education,” he said.

“My proposal is that with the stroke of a pen, the minister wipe out the need for maths before achieving a Leaving Certificate.”

Mr Garvey, who was a principal teacher in a primary school for 35 years, supported calls by another delegate for more tracking of pupils from primary to second level. Rose Tully, formerly of the National Parents Council Post Primary and now with North Tipperary VEC, said parents can’t understand why their children go from a situation in primary education where they have special needs help on to second level where no such supports may be available.

The conference also heard that an enforced cap on the number of places on further education courses for some of the country’s most disadvantaged students and adults returning to education will push more on to the dole queues. And it will punish the vocational education sector for being successful, say vocational school managers.

The recent decision to freeze the number of students on Post Leaving Certificate Courses from next September flies in the face of Department of Education and Science as well as Government policy on tackling disadvantage, delegates heard.

At present, 28,000 adults are on such courses, industry-driven programmes which offer a pathway into work, as well as a stepping stone into third level for those who might not have the Leaving Certificate points for entry.

“This is a make or break issue for all of our vocational education committees and is the most critical issue for us since we were threatened with abolition in 1996/1997. It is a crisis situation and means that VECs are being penalised for their own success,” said IVEA general secretary Michael Moriarty.

Freezing enrolments has “a contraceptive impact” and it stifles growth into the future, he told delegates.

“This cut is irrational, it is wrong and it was taken without consultation with the unions. It was made on financial grounds, rather than on need,” he said.

Education Minister Noel Dempsey insisted that the numbers on PLC courses have spiralled in the past few years, now heading towards 30,000. The department needs to be able to take stock of them, he said.

“We are not cutting back. We are merely taking stock.”