Blind focus on subject is no solution to our maths problem

Our nation’s leaders need to avoid putting all their educational eggs in one basket, writes education correspondent Niall Murray

THE outcome of a criminal court case this week summed up — albeit as an extreme example — how the college points system is warping our education system.

The pressure to get a top grade in physics was enough to get a young Dublin man to convince his classmate to sit the exam for him. The two 22-year-olds pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to impersonating each other in the exams at Christian Brothers College, Monkstown, four years ago, and were fined €200 each.

There have been deliberations by state education bodies about reforming the points system over the past year, a process initiated by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn. He decided it was time to grapple the college entry issue, dubbed by school leaders as the tail that wags the dog when it comes to second-level education.

In a radio interview yesterday, Mr Quinn reiterated the point of a study presented to the National Competitiveness Council that there should be recognition of the fact that maths is a “double exam”, with two papers.

Students who have taken additional practical tests or completed projects for other subjects — for example, engineering, home economics, technology, music, art, or history — might legitimately question that argument.

Mr Quinn commended the awarding of 25 bonus points to students who get a pass grade or better in higher-level Leaving Cert maths, initiated by colleges for the first time this year at the behest of Mr Quinn’s predecessor, Mary Coughlan.

Much was made in March of the increasing numbers who had indicated they would choose higher level. But the answer to our maths problem is not having more young people take it at higher level to avoid losing a competitive edge in the points race, when some might run the risk of failing when they would have done very well at ordinary level.

It makes sense, as the report to the competitiveness council suggested, that minimum grades be required if maths is pertinent to the course a student wants to take.

But surely we need to have students taking a subject because it interests them and they think it might be useful in their future life, rather than just something that will boost their chances of getting on to an entirely unrelated college course.

There has been a recognition of this in the planned and welcome overhaul of the Junior Certificate — initiated, to his credit, by Batt O’Keeffe during his brief tenure at the Department of Education.

Instead of the academic focus and the immense pressure of up to a dozen exams, students will take no more than six exams, and possibly just four if they opt for a number of half-year courses for which they will be assessed locally.

There have been repeated calls, including one this week, to make physical education an exam subject. The Department of Education says schools could choose to devise a short course around PE for the new-look junior cycle qualification.

And, while a curriculum is being drawn up as a possible exam subject to Leaving Cert, reforms in maths, science, Irish, and overall literacy and numeracy remain a priority.

Making the call for sports enthusiasts to have their talents rewarded by the education system, the Gaelic Players’ Association said the option was available to young artists and musicians. Both art and music are examined to Leaving Cert, with practical and written exams.

Mr Quinn repeated to RTÉ News the argument of Seán Mac Donagh and Tony Quinlan to the National Competitiveness Council, reported in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, that maths needs to no longer be seen as “just another subject”.

However, while there is a need to continue impressing its importance to young people, what does it tell them about art, music, history, or languages when they hear the country’s political and business leaders talk about little else but maths and science?

How many generations have complained of their loathing of Irish, not as their national language and its cultural associations, but because it was “rammed down their throats” at school? That is being slowly changed by the examination system’s new focus on the spoken language.

Efforts to similarly change perceptions of maths are under way with a new second-level curriculum that leans toward practical applications of the subject. There are mixed views on the impact it will have on students’ real understanding of mathematical concepts, and also some criticism of the first examination of aspects of Project Maths in last months higher level Leaving Cert exam.

THERE was no public outcry last week when, on the same day that a programme that saw European languages taught in 27,500 primary schools was disbanded, another economic advisory body reported on the need for improved language skills to help sustain jobs growth. The expert group on future skills needs highlighted the comparatively poor uptake of languages at primary level and the reliance on foreign labour to meet shortfalls of fluent graduates for international business dealings. The findings of the Forfás subsidiary coincided with a report showing Irish people lag behind most of our counterparts on ability to converse in a second or third language.

But while the Government is diverting much of its teacher training budget toward improving the ability of our schools to teach maths and literacy, secondary schools are complaining of shortages of other teachers, such as Irish, French, and German, as well as some science subjects. No programmes or incentives have been announced to redress that situation.

Students of languages other than English take a spoken test around Easter, in addition to the written exam, but there has been no talk about awarding extra points in recognition of this either.

The danger with pushing maths and science in our schools is that they will become the only subjects children believe they should take an interest in or will need for a successful career.

There have been justifiable concerns about the economic qualifications of key staff in the Department of Finance and other agencies. But the people devising policy for our governments should know more than the price of everything when it comes to formulating the shape of Ireland for future generations; high-level understanding of social science, health, history, and other non-mathematical degree subjects should also feed into the mix.

We are paying a heavy price for the over-reliance on one sector of the economy during a decade of excess, when people cared more about the rising value of their home than much else. But nobody is feeling the burden more than the thousands who were going through our schools at the time and now have little chance of work without leaving the country, despite having quality degrees.

The education system will play a major role in restoring some social and economic normality but, while our poor mathematical standards need to be restored, our leaders need to avoid putting all their educational eggs in one basket.