Failure to change course hitting maths standards

STUDENTS are starting college without an adequate level of maths for top jobs because of government inaction to change the courses in schools, a leading academic has claimed.

The high failure rate at ordinary level maths and the fact that fewer Leaving Certificate students are choosing higher level maths was raised as a cause of concern when results were issued each summer for the past four or five years.

Only one in six school leavers sat the higher level exam last year and more than 4,000 out of 35,000 who took ordinary level maths failed the exam.