Sir, – There are a set of mathematical topics that are at the heart of any mathematical or engineering course. These include differential calculus, matrices and vectors. The new project maths course has removed some or all of these topics. This move will result in greater participation rates in the new higher level course. However, denying students who have good mathematical abilities access to this content will have very negative effects on the knowledge economy, undermining the original purpose of the initiative.
Project maths is here to stay and there is merit to the new approach. Bringing the bonus points in at this point of the roll-out was ill considered as it denies us the means to measure the true impact of project maths on increased uptakes at higher level. Bonus points for maths should be removed immediately as it causes an imbalance in the curriculum and is resented by many teachers.
Higher level maths is really a double subject. It requires only a small percentage of the population to study it to the very highest level. As maths teachers we propose the creation of a second maths subject containing all of those aspects that are regarded as essential for third- level mathematical courses. We already have applied maths, a subject that has an uptake of only about 1,500 students per year.
Add in the higher level material that was removed from the old maths course and combine it with the more important parts of applied maths. This will create a subject that will address present deficiencies. Once this happens second-level students in Ireland will have access to maths courses in their schools that will be amongst the best in the world, equipping them with the necessary skills to walk into any university of their choosing. – Yours, etc,