Sir, – The suggestion in your Letters page (August 23rd) from maths teachers, Tony Kelly and Kieran Mills, that there be two maths subjects seems to me to be an excellent one.
Maths 1 could exclude the more difficult topics, such as calculus, and focus more on a good grounding in basic concepts, algebraic manipulation and operations, data handling and simple applications. It could be a compulsory subject for entry to most third level courses.
Maths 2, by replacing applied maths, as suggested, could give the minority of students who need higher level maths the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding of the maths topics required to pursue courses at third level in science, engineering or IT. Isn’t that the aim of the exercise?
As a former teacher of maths in an institute of technology, I welcomed at the time the thinking behind the move towards Project Maths. However, perusal of the examination papers, has brought me to the conclusion that it is a hoax. Not only has the syllabus at higher level been dumbed down considerably but some calculus is examined without regard to the applications which would make it relevant and understandable to the students.
It beggars belief that there is no room on the syllabus for vectors or matrices, both of which are the kind of topic needed by students thinking of careers in science, engineering or indeed computer studies. – Yours, etc,