Third-level education - Soft options may be the wrong choices

Tomorrow the 53,700 young people — and some not so young — who sat the leaving certificate at the start of the summer will get their exam results and know if they have realised their immediate ambitions.

Over 40,000 hope to get a college place but it is expected that many will face higher points requirements than they had anticipated. It is expected that, for a combination of reasons, entry requirements for some courses, especially the sciences, will be the highest for some decades.

Ironically, this points inflation has been spurred by the decision to award an extra 25 points to students who succeed at higher-level maths. Unfortunately, an entirely laudable measure designed to encourage students to be more ambitious may deny some their first-choice college course. The lack of employment opportunities and a dramatic fall in the number of Irish students attending British colleges because of significant fee increases also adds to the pressure on places.

At a moment when several colleges have expressed concern that too many first-year students seem out of their depth with third-level maths it is essential to encourage suitable students to take the pivotal subject at the highest possible level but it is unfortunate that the move may push entry requirements up for everyone.

It is unfortunate too that next month’s expansion of the project maths programme may, according to its opponents, mean third-level science, engineering and maths courses will be even more challenging for students. Project maths, according to a growing number of academics and teachers, does not prepare students for the rigours of a third-level course reliant on a strong understanding of maths. Rather than opening doors the well-intentioned innovation may in fact close them.

In an increasingly globalised and competitive world it does seem strange that we are introducing a programme that sets that bar considerably lower than heretofore, especially as we have been told so often that our future lies in a knowledge-based economy. It is hard to see any of the world’s developing economies responding to a difficulty in maths education by making courses less comprehensive and therefore less valuable. Is it possible we have taken the soft option on this issue? It does seem certain though that the issue needs to be revisited.

Another issue that might be revisited is the Government’s objective of increasing the number of students who go on to third-level education. Already we have the highest proportion in the EU of second-level students who go on to third-level — 65% — and there are plans to increase this figure to 72%.

This increase may further reduce standards in our colleges and, allied to the funding crisis, may make it even more difficult for them to reach essential world class standards. The 72% objective, from a social engineering perspective at least, may be entirely praiseworthy and decent but if it weakens our education system is it still the best thing to do? If it encourages students to embrace courses they may not enjoy or complete is it even the right thing to do?

Like everything in life the ideal education system is an evolving, ever-changing thing but, just as we did when we reduced the emphasis placed on grammar in English courses, we may be about to make matters worse by trying to improve them.