Speedier reform is required in the wake of the Leaving Cert results to address the crisis in maths and science teaching, according to director general of Engineers Ireland, John Power.
Reacting to the ongoing low levels studying maths and the physical sciences, Mr Power suggested the current time-lines for reform were too slow. “While I welcome Minister O’Keeffe’s comments that an education in the science, technology and engineering sectors offers exciting career prospects for graduates, I have an ongoing concern that syllabus change is taking too long. The Project Maths initiative is a laudable undertaking but it is merely a pilot scheme at this point with full roll-out not effective until September 2010. It will then be several years before we can assess how it is successful or not. With bodies like the American Chamber of Commerce and IBEC’s PharmaChemical already expressing concern about our low numbers studying maths and the sciences and the direct link here to long-term multinational investment in Ireland, more needs to be done and on a much quicker time-scale.”
Leaving Certificate results showed that just 16% of students took honours maths which is down on the 2008 figures. Of these, 6.7% got the top grade possible. Only 10% took higher level chemistry while just 8% took higher level physics. The most recent international assessments have Ireland ranked 14th and 16th respectively out of 30 OECD countries in terms of the science and mathematic literarcy of 15-year-olds.
According to a report by DKM Economic Consultants earlier this year, engineers directly contribute €5.5 billion to the Irish economy and are particularly prominent in high tech sectors that account for almost 80% of merchandise exports.
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