THE POOR Leaving Certificate results in maths and science subjects are a major “cause for concern”, the Government’s chief scientific adviser has warned. The standard of students going forward to third level has declined in recent years and the issue must be addressed.
“We should start by acknowledging that we have a problem,” the scientific adviser, Prof Patrick Cunningham, said yesterday. He was commenting after details of the Leaving Cert results showed that there had been another poor outcome in the results for science subjects and for mathematics.
The latest international comparisons of student standards indicated things have continued to get worse. “Ireland has been slipping down the ranks internationally, particularly in maths. That wake up call is reinforced by this year’s Leaving Cert results,” he said.
While the results overall had not changed significantly on last year, some “disturbing trends” had been revealed, he added.
“One is the continued increase in the percentage of students getting honours grades. Are students becoming smarter, exams becoming easier, or is marking more generous? Whatever the cause, grade inflation is still under way,” he said.
There was also the problem of students going forward after the Leaving to take university and institute of technology places despite having an inadequate grounding in science and maths subjects.
Academic colleagues in these institutions had indicated to him that standards had declined. “Those recruiting for high-tech industry complain that they have difficulty finding sufficient appropriately trained graduates in science and technology subjects,” he said.
Yet there was reason to hope that change was on the way, he said. Measures to award bonus points for those taking honours maths were in train.
And the Project Maths programme that was successfully piloted in 25 schools over the past two years was now ready to move out into more than 700 secondary schools this September, he said.
“Despite the financial crisis, investment in teacher training is receiving a boost: an extension from three to four years for primary teachers, and a doubling of the H Dip from one to two years.”
A reformed Junior Cert curriculum that set a maximum of eight subjects was also being put in place. And July saw the launch of a new campaign to overhaul literacy and numeracy at primary level, he added.
“All of these initiatives make sense. The challenge is to implement them rapidly and efficiently,” he said.
It was important that students benefit from exposure in school to maths and science, but it was also important at a national level.
“It is vital to improve and create interest in science and maths as this country’s prospects and prosperity a decade and a generation from now depend on it,” Prof Cunningham said.
Next year Ireland will celebrate Dublin City of Science, which will feature a major international conference in July, the Euroscience Open Forum.
It would show how interesting science and maths could be, he said.