Poor teachers ‘a factor’ in maths exam failure rate

THE tiny number of teachers who are sacked for poor performance is a factor in the low standards and high failure rate in Leaving Certificate maths, the head of a leading software firm has suggested.

David O’Meara, chief executive of Havok, which develops software for computers and gaming, said the difficulty finding Irish graduates with suitable levels of maths and physics is a significant problem.

Around one-third of the company’s 100 employees work in Ireland, but further development work could be done here with more suitably-qualified staff.