{"id":615525,"date":"2026-09-05T18:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T18:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/615525\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T18:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T18:18:10","slug":"irelands-brightest-maths-students-are-thriving-so-why-are-experts-worried-about-the-leaving-cert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/615525\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s brightest maths students are thriving. So why are experts worried about the Leaving Cert?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish students more than hold their own on the international stage when it comes to maths, placing highly in some of the world\u2019s most prestigious and gruelling competitions despite relatively low investment in supporting top-performing students.<\/p>\n

The past two years has seen Team Ireland put in their best performances to date at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), the world championships in mathematics.<\/p>\n

Bright young minds from 117 countries are given 4.5 hours each day of the competition to solve six highly complex mathematical problems.<\/p>\n

In April, Team Ireland also had its best performance yet at the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad, created 15 years ago to encourage young women to pursue maths at the highest levels. The accolades of these students are no small feat, and they are thanks largely in part to a team of dedicated volunteers from the Irish Mathematical Trust (IMT).<\/p>\n

The group runs maths enrichment courses across the country, free weekend classes that aim to challenge the next generation of Ireland\u2019s young mathematicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask the students when was the last time they encountered a difficult problem or a problem they didn\u2019t know how to solve, in maths class [in school],\u201d said Neil Dobbs, lecturer in mathematics at University College Dublin (UVD) and IMT chairman. \u201cThey don\u2019t remember. Never is a frequent answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The publication of the draft specification for the new Leaving Cert<\/a> maths curriculum has sparked concerns amongst mathematicians, both at second level and in higher education. Their concerns are not just for the top students, or those considering a career in advanced mathematics, but for the impact downstream on the entire third level sector.<\/p>\n

The documents, which are now out for public consultation, were cast into the spotlight this week as news broke of two high-profile resignations of experts<\/a> in their field from the group tasked with the subject\u2019s redesign.<\/p>\n

Aoibhinn N\u00ed Sh\u00failleabh\u00e1in, associate professor of mathematics education at DCU, resigned this summer from the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA) Mathematics Development Group. Pauline Mellon, emeritus professor of mathematics at the School of Mathematics and Statistics at UCD, resigned from the group in January.<\/p>\n

Discussing her reasons for resigning this week, Ms N\u00ed Sh\u00failleabh\u00e1in said the proposed draft specifications fail to adequately prepare students for their future lives in society.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very worried about the lack of rigour or the reduction in content and abstraction that we have for our high-achieving students,\u201d she told RT\u00c9.<\/p>\n

Neil Dobbs shares these concerns. \u201cThe current Leaving Cert curriculum is offering very little already to the top 5% of students. They spend most of their time bored in maths class, both at Junior Cert and Leaving Cert.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese changes are going to harm the next 10 – 15% of students who will just end up with no idea what to expect from third-level mathematics that is required in any STEM degree. There\u2019s international evidence from the Programme for International Student Assessment studies that we are already underperforming at the higher end. These changes will make things worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having reviewed the draft, he believes the current proposals remove the topics that challenge students intellectually and provide examples of rigorous structured arguments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more rigorous structured arguments they see, the easier it will be for them to write their own and structure their own thoughts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are at an age where being challenged intellectually will make them smarter, and this is being cut from the curriculum. The majority of the cuts are to the deeper topics.<\/p>\n

\"UCDUCD lecturer in mathematics and IMT chairman Neil Dobbs at the IMT Awards ceremony in UCC. He believes the current Leaving Cert maths curriculum offers little for the top 5% students. Picture: Chloe Lehane<\/p>\n

\u201cBy cutting the more consequential topics like complex numbers or proof by induction, and we\u2019re not replacing them with something as equally deep, that is doing them harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her resignation letter to the NCCA in January, Prof Mellon pointed out how material on the course had been \u201cdiluted\u201d, while at the same time \u201cessentially nothing new has been added\u201d. \u201cBoth breadth and depth have gone,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n

It proposes cutting \u201cmore or less all of\u201d geometry, including all geometric proofs, a lot of trigonometry, mathematical induction, financial mathematics, and complex numbers.<\/p>\n

She said \u201cthe essence of mathematics is diminished, namely, the role of abstraction, the concept and role of proof, of definition and the clarity and precision of its language are no longer adequately represented\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me that this has been a misguided principle of some of our NCCA colleagues, namely, we make mathematics friendlier by making it less mathematical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Irish Examiner this week, Prof Mellon raised concerns about the entire redevelopment process, which has been and is being replicated across all subjects as part of ongoing Leaving Cert reform.<\/p>\n

Taking maths as an example, she points to international best practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d have mathematicians who are thinking about the broad picture in mathematics, about how it\u2019s changing, what\u2019s moving in the background across the sciences, business and technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You\u2019d have that represented by mathematicians, people with PhDs in mathematics in addition to experience at third level. Then you\u2019d have people who deal with the whole pedagogy of the subject, and then you\u2019d have second-level expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese all bring totally different expertise, and experience and viewpoints and perspectives. Each of those groups would be fully and properly represented. Each would bring their strengths at different stages of the process, and it would move flexibly. But that is not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

NCCA response\u00a0<\/p>\n

This week, when asked to comment on Prof Mellon\u2019s concerns, the NCCA said it would \u201cemphasise that the purpose of Leaving Certificate mathematics is broader than preparation for students who may wish to pursue mathematics or mathematics-related courses in higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subject aims to \u201cdevelop the mathematical knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions needed for continuing education, life, and work,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is designed to support the diverse needs and future pathways of students, including progression to higher and further education, apprenticeships, employment and informed participation in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Prof Mellon, her concerns are broader than the small cohort of students who will pursue a degree in maths.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say \u2018she\u2019s a mathematician, she only cares about the people doing degrees in mathematics\u2019. At no stage did I ever speak to that tiny cohort; that was never the case. I never related any of my concerns to people who are becoming mathematicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am speaking about people doing commerce, agriculture, engineering, all of the sciences. All require maths. I am talking about any student who goes on to do anything with any kind of quantitative basis whatsoever. Almost everyone has to take some form of maths. It\u2019s not a small cohort; it\u2019s replicated across higher education. We\u2019re talking about the majority of students, not the elite who will go on to specialise in mathematics. That\u2019s not who I am concerned about. I am worried about the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing you should do is do no harm. These syllabi will do harm. It will really harm mathematics education, and I don\u2019t think these syllabi are serving students at any level. I don\u2019t think they are serving higher level; I don\u2019t think they are serving ordinary level or foundation.<\/p>\n

\n If progressed, I genuinely believe it is going to pull back mathematics education, and I\u2019m not talking about just a high level.\n <\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking about people who are going into all of our business courses, all of our engineering, all of our STEM, our computer science, our information technologies, all of the related courses in data science and data processing, across the board in all of our third level institutions. It will pull it all back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement this week, the NCCA said all questions relating to the draft curriculum\u2019s rationale, aims, structure, content and assessment are \u201call matters for public scrutiny and consideration during the open and transparent consultation over the next three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll feedback gathered during this time will be brought to the Development Group and carefully considered by them as they carry out further work to finalise the specification.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: \u201cThese are only draft specifications; they have not been finalised.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next three months, the NCCA is inviting feedback from teachers, school leaders, students, parents, people working in further and higher education, employers, mathematicians, and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis feedback will help to identify areas requiring further work or refinement, and shape the next stage of work and ensure the final mathematics specifications are clear, rigorous, inclusive and practical to implement. Once complete, the NCCA will publish the findings from this consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with all subjects, the Subject Development Group is chaired independently and \u201ccontains a range of expertise including the third level sector, school management and teacher representatives, with all members of the group bringing their experience and expertise to the group\u2019s work\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

For Prof Mellon, the impact of getting this aspect of the curriculum wrong will be stark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is progressed, it will step back mathematics education, and it will step it back for two decades. That\u2019s going to have downstream effects across third level, in almost every subject that has any quantity values in it whatsoever. It\u2019s going to have massive effects down the line for industries \u2014 the Googles, the Microsofts, AI. Mathematics underlies almost all of AI .\u201d<\/p>\n

Jess Casey is Education Correspondent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irish students more than hold their own on the international stage when it comes to maths, placing highly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,835,61,60,169341,43],"class_list":["post-615525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-education","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-leaving-cert","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}