"Reasonable and fair" test broadly welcomed

LEAVING CERT MATHS PAPER 2 HIGHER LEVEL:JUST ONE in five Leaving Certificate students sat yesterday's higher level maths – regarded as one of the most challenging exams in the Leaving Cert.

Trigonometry and calculus featured on yesterday’s paper 2.

The paper was broadly welcomed by students and teachers, with some notable exceptions.

Some students complained that question 6, on probability, was much more difficult than anticipated.

“I received a number of complaints about the last part of question 6 from students,” said Eileen Scanlon of the Jesus Mary Secondary School in Salthill, Galway.

“The section brought in other branches of the course, notably geometry, so it was not a basic maths question.”

However, said Ms Scanlon, on closer analysis, the question was not as difficult as it appeared.

“In general I thought this was a reasonable and fair paper,” she concluded.

Aidan Roantree of the Institute of Education in Dublin agreed.

“Overall there was a positive reaction to honours maths paper 2 yesterday. The paper was not as intimidating as it has been on occasion,” he said.

“There were two very benign trigonometry questions, which were well received.”

The paper opened with a “decent” circle question, while the option question on further calculus was along expected lines, according to commentators.

There has been criticism of the Leaving Cert higher level maths course by employer groups, who say more students should be attracted to the subject.

Higher level maths is required for many third-level courses in science, technology and engineering.

By opting out of the subject, the majority of students are opting out of careers in high-tech industries, according to critics.

However, earlier this year Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe signalled his opposition to a bonus CAO system for maths.

The Minister warned that a bonus points scheme would “reinforce the perception that maths is a difficult subject”.

A new initiative called Project Maths, devised to connect maths to everyday life, is being piloted in 24 schools.

It is envisaged that the Department of Education will roll out the new curriculum to the rest of the State over the coming years.

However, some commentators have cautioned that Project Maths constitutes a “dumbing down” of the curriculum.