THE LEAVING Certificate results reflect a number of familiar but no less worrying trends. More than 4,000 students failed maths; failure rates are unusually high in science subjects at higher level while the results for students taking higher level business and economics were relatively disappointing. There is little sense here that the class of 2011 is well-equipped for the knowledge economy.
From what one can gauge from the examination process – by no means the most reliable indicator – our skills base remains firmly rooted in the so called “softer’’ skills.
The good news is that a succession of disappointing Leaving Cert results in maths and science has acted as a catalyst for change. The Government hopes to roll out the new “more practical’’ Project Maths course by 2014. But it will not be greatly encouraged by results from the 24 schools that piloted the course this year. The new course is failing in its main objective, which is to boost numbers taking maths at higher level.
Only 16 per cent of students in Project Maths schools opted to take the higher level paper – broadly the same percentage which already sits the standard papers. To put this in context, over 60 per cent of students take higher level English. The Government will be hoping the introduction of bonus CAO points for maths by the third level colleges next year will help to boost student interest. But will the promise of only 25 additional CAO points be enough to spark interest among a generation of students who have little sense of real engagement with the subject? On a practical level, will students view the bonus points as sufficient compensation for taking on higher level maths – by some distance the most demanding and time consuming higher level subject? Equally, there remain issues about how maths and science are taught that must be addressed with urgency.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn sees Project Maths as just one component of a comprehensive reform of the Leaving Cert and the CAO points system. What’s clear is that the exam – unchanged in many key respects since the 1930s – is no longer fit for purpose. Teachers complain it does little to promote critical thinking or independent learning. University presidents say many students, weaned on rote learning in the Leaving, struggle to adjust to higher education. For their part, employers lament the lack of flexibility and innovative capacity among many graduates. With characteristic candour, Mr Quinn says the Leaving Cert tests students on what they remember rather than what they know.
Introducing a wave of reform to the second level system will not be easy. Second level teacher unions have already signalled some unease about continuous assessment. There is also the not inconsiderable hurdle of funding a major education initiative in an age of austerity. But we have little choice. The most recent international rankings in literacy, numeracy and science have shattered the myth of Ireland’s world class education. We need to restructure and to rebuild – beginning with the Leaving Cert exam.