Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire Deputy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has today (Wednesday) said that the marking scheme for Project Maths does not reflect the ability of brighter students and leaves many questions unanswered about why so many marks were awarded for some sections and so few for others.

“Despite the fact that this year saw a dramatic fall in the number of students failing Leaving Certificate maths and record numbers taking the higher level paper, the marking scheme which was adopted has left many in doubt about its suitability and whether or not it is doing a disservice to our students.

“The marking scheme for this year’s Leaving Certificate honours paper saw the easiest section of some questions being awarded as much as ¾ of the total marks, with the more difficult sections receiving a very small amount of the possible total.

“For example, question eight, which dealt with the robotic arm, saw 55 out of a possible 75 marks being attributed to part A of the question, which is generally considered to be less difficult than sections B and C, both of which received just 5 marks each. Section D of the same question was awarded 10 out of 75 marks. I have been informed by a corrector of this paper that the marking system for this question was changed drastically because the results were so dismal.

“Where question three of the same paper (Leaving Cert Honours Paper 2) was concerned, 15 out of 25 marks were awarded in one part for ‘any reasonable first step’, with the more difficult parts being given a ‘mid-partial credit’ of just 5 extra marks. In some cases, 10 marks out of a possible 25 were awarded for ‘any work of merit’.

“The marking scheme being used does not reflect the true ability of the students being examined and certainly does not give the brighter maths students a chance to shine. A decline in the numbers failing maths should be seen as a good thing. However, if we are masking weaknesses in the system with favourable marking schemes which reward all students, not just the good ones, we are not getting to the root of our children’s struggle with maths.

“The State Examination Commission’s policy is to issue a Chief Examiner’s report following the first examination of a new syllabus, which for Project Maths is not due to take place until 2014. I have noted also that the last Chief Examiner’s maths report for the Junior Certificate was carried out in 2006. For the Leaving Certificate it was 2005. In my view, this is unacceptable.

“We need to ensure that the changes being made to the maths syllabus are serving our children in the best way possible. We need transparency around why marks were awarded in the way they were and why the children who were able to complete only the simplest part of the question were so handsomely rewarded.”