The major changes in teacher training and student assessment to boost maths skills announced by the Minister for Education & Skills Mary Coughlan have been strongly welcomed by Engineers Ireland.
The changes will include extending the duration of degree programmes, diploma courses and in-service training for teachers, improvements in reporting and student assessment and a greater emphasis on numeracy in education generally.
Director general of Engineers Ireland John Power endorsed the move and once again highlighted the direct link between standards in maths and the shortage of engineers entering Irish industry.
“Engineers Ireland has consistently said we need to do more to support teachers to teach maths in a manner that helps students fully engage with the real-life applications of the subject. The 2010 Leaving Certificate results once again painted a bleak picture with just 16% of students sitting the higher level maths paper and 4,300 failing maths across all levels.
A survey of students commissioned by Engineers Ireland in August found 86% believe honours maths would enhance their college choices yet 40% of higher level maths students said they need grinds to cope.
The changes announced by the minister, in conjunction with the ongoing roll-out of the Project Maths initiative, are important steps towards improving student understanding of maths as well as boosting grades in the subject.”
The reality is if Ireland is to regain competitiveness on a global scale and pull ourselves out of this economic black hole, we need graduates with the key skills that will support indigenous growth, the Green economy and our still-vibrant export sector. This means graduates with the requisite maths skills to become engineers,” Power added.
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