Mr. Ciar?n Duffy:

At junior cycle, we have a level 2 learning programme which meets the needs of students who are at a particular threshold of education and cannot access much of the literacy and numeracy that the maths exams require at level 3. What has happened is the previous foundation level junior certificate exam has been morphed with the previous junior certificate ordinary level exam. Students who do not meet the threshold for accessing the level 2 programme are now being made to do what is an ordinary level exam paper. There was a foundation level course and exam paper for them which was perfect for their needs and gave them a sense of achievement and success. Now they are accessing a mathematics exam that is riddled with literacy, left right and centre. There is no such thing as a straightforward mathematics question anymore. Everything has to have a real-world context, scenario or situation. While that is fantastic for very many of our students, there is an awful lot that is beyond the realms of the educational capacity of some of those students at this stage of their lives and of their educational journey. In a recent survey, 83% of IMTA members agreed or strongly agreed with the reintroduction of the foundation level maths course. It is something we are calling for immediately.