Mr. David Duffy:

Before I became education officer with the TUI, I was a maths teacher. Even among the maths teaching community, the whole issue of bonus points is quite a contested space, as our ASTI colleagues have said. There was a debate quite recently as to whether bonus points should be offered for physics and chemistry, for example. There has also been debate as to whether priority of some form or another should be given to other subjects. This presents a difficulty in that it can, to some extent, end up in a debate on what subjects are most important. Such subjects may or may not be seen as so important in a few years' time. If bonus points are brought in for any subject, should they be time-limited? What is it sought to achieve with them and over what timeframe? If bonus points are brought in for any given subject, how can they be taken away later? The teachers and communities involved in other subjects will, quite understandably, say their subjects are also very important. All of them will be correct because every subject is very important. There is a danger of sending a message that one is, in some way, more important than others.

Even among the maths teaching community, the issue of bonus points has proved to be quite controversial. There are different views on whether they have worked.

We mentioned the issue of equal opportunities earlier. One of the fundamental flaws with bonus points for any subject, not specifically Irish, is that they are only good if the person is planning on going to higher education. It does nothing whatsoever to incentivise the one third of students who do not intend to go to higher education but whose individual pathways, whether further education, an apprenticeship, joining the workforce or travelling, are equally important to them and should be equally important to the education system. Providing bonus points creates an incentive at a point in time for some students, but the question is how to taper that incentive over time if, for whatever reason, and it is always for a very good reason, some other subject becomes a national priority. There is an issue around that and there is also the equity issue. It is also important to point out that almost since the foundation of the State, students who do their leaving certificate exams through Irish can avail of bonus marks in other subjects. There is an incentive in the system already but where bonus points have, quite understandably, been brought in, they have been controversial even in those areas. Even if we do bring them in, we will be doing nothing for the one third of students who do not intend to go to higher education immediately.