Quinn pledges exam reform amid concern over maths results

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has vowed to shake up the Leaving Certificate amid concerns that continued poor maths and science results highlight the need for wider reform.

With industry chiefs, teachers, student leaders and education experts questioning the system and near static failure rates, Mr Quinn said new initiatives were already showing positive results.

The minister pledged to reform the Leaving Certificate after the junior secondary programme is overhauled.

“It does concern me. We do have a problem here,” he said.

Both the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) and Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Asti) claimed worsening pupil-teacher ratios have forced some students and schools to drop subjects and teaching methods.

Asti president Brendan Broderick claimed there had been a 3.4% drop in the number of students taking physics and a 4.8% drop in the number taking German.

“It is clear that if the pupil-teacher ratio is targeted again, more schools will be forced to drop subjects that are vital to economic recovery,” he said.

TUI president Bernie Ruane said she was gravely concerned about a 5% drop in numbers taking the Leaving Certificate Applied option which traditionally kept students at greater risk of dropping-out in education.

“This is a clear illustration of the damage that education cuts wreak on the most vulnerable students,” she said.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) called for an inquiry into why only half of teachers are qualified to teach maths and urged the Government to move away from one-off exams to continuous assessment.

Mr Quinn said one of the potential reforms would be bonus points for science as well as the additional 25 points pupils can target by taking higher maths.

“We have to accept the analysis – it’s broadly accepted in the education sphere and beyond that the secondary system has to be reformed,” he told RTÉ.

“What we need to do now is to drive that and drive it with the degree of passion and certainty so that people know what they are going into.”

Mr Quinn also noted that analysis has also shown that it is easier to hit the top marks in some subjects than in others.

A new syllabus aiming to make classroom maths more practical in everyday life has upped honours grades. Mr Quinn said it was early days for the Project Maths teaching method but the results have already shown positives in the 24 schools teaching the new method.

“We need to address this. 10% have failed maths which is a most worrying figure because that means that their choice options in terms of courses that they can study have been closed to them because of their failure to get even a pass,” the minister said.

Mr Quinn said any review of the Leaving Certificate would also include a look at the teaching and the need for additional supports for the secondary school system.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) will meet with the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA) next month to explore ideas on overhaul of secondary level.

Director general of Engineers Ireland, John Power, called for students’ concerns to be listened to and for schools to provide more practical, everyday applications for maths to aid learning.

A Government TD, Fine Gael’s David Stanton, suggested all colleges and universities should adopt a safety net or second chance approach to maths allowing students who failed to re-sit the papers in the first year in third level.

Questions have also been raised on the cost of third level with the contentious issue over fees, loans and registration charges again rearing their head.

Mr Quinn has said he is not in favour of a state-backed loans scheme and campaigned on a ’no fees’ platform in the election, but admitted that finding a balance in tight budgets would not be easy.

“We are going to have to cut our cloth very much to meet our measure,” he said.