Given the Irish obsession with the Leaving Certificate, it is surprising how little attention the radical reform now under way is attracting. Perhaps the resignation of two respected academics from the maths reform committee will prompt people to wake up.

Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, DCU associate professor of mathematics education and Pauline Mellon, professor emeritus in the UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics, did not resign lightly. Neither could stand over the draft maths syllabus. Both had significant concerns about the governance and culture of the process that produced it.

In her resignation letter, seen by The Irish Times, Mellon described the new specification as “significantly worse” than the current curriculum. While she is open to reducing content in a coherent way that preserves the subject’s integrity, she is clear that both breadth and depth have been sacrificed. She says “more or less all of geometry, including all geometric proofs, much of trigonometry, mathematical induction, financial mathematics and complex numbers have been cut”, while other material has been diluted.

Ní Shúilleabháin concurs, stating that the lack of rigour and resulting incoherence will not serve students at foundation, ordinary or higher level. Nor is the additional assessment component – a non-exam element worth 40 per cent – fit for purpose.

How can my daughter make the most out of her visit to Higher Options 2026?

‘Technical skills are important but so is your ability to communicate and engage with others’

What decisions about third level do you have to make?

‘September can be a shock to........

© The Irish Times