Higher-level maths does not merit extra points

Should Leaving Certificate higher-level maths merit extra points towards university entry?

Should everyone entering primary teaching have higher-level maths?

I have a BSc in maths and physics and I have never understood why people should be more impressed by this than if I had a BA in English and history.

I see no reason why higher-level maths should merit extra points. The points system is crude. Given that there is no reason for a student to start a university course for which he or she is not capable, what is needed is a more finely targeted system.

For example, anyone intending to study for a degree in engineering should be required to have higher-level maths, but why give extra points for higher-level maths to a student of English and history?

I go further. Why give extra points for higher-level maths to a student of medicine?

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn says that primary teachers should have higher-level maths.

Let me say, as someone who taught higher-level maths for more than 40 years, which is 40 years longer than Ruairi Quinn taught maths, that the essential — particularly at primary level — is not the teacher’s qualification, but how well he or she has been trained to teach.

Brendan Casserly

Abbeybridge

Waterfall