Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The idea is that their students will disgrace them with their knowledge. Is there an end? Does the deputation envisage this as ongoing or can they see a levelling off or a plateau? How can the primary school system help? I am of the view that the primary school curriculum has been dumbed down. We used to teach long division in fourth class and now it is taught in fifth class. Pupils do not deal in compound or complex fractions, such as four sevenths or five seventeenths. At present, pupils cannot begin to add, subtract, multiply or divide any of these fractions. What are the core reasons?