Alert eyes spotted at the end of last month that the reformed Senior Cycle timetable had quietly changed. The introduction of the new maths and English subjects has been moved from 2027 to “at least 2028”.

This was in the wake of particular controversy about the proposed reformed maths. Great credit must go to Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, DCU associate professor of mathematics education, and Pauline Mellon, professor emeritus in the UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics. They resigned from the Leaving Cert maths redevelopment group because of what they characterised as an incoherent reform where both breadth and depth had been sacrificed.

Did the instruction to delay implementation come from the Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton? If so, perhaps she has sufficient courage to halt this whole flawed reform process. She has already demonstrated sufficient steel to secure one of the biggest raises ever in the capitation grant for primary schools even though colleagues were furious about the hole in Department of Education finances. That overspend came mostly from providing special classes for students with autism. Inclusive education is expensive.

Forcing a rethink on the Leaving Cert would make teachers feel heard. Teachers took strike action because they need a pay increase to keep pace with spiralling prices, but also because they are completely fed up with their legitimate concerns being ignored.

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