Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: Why I Walked Away from the Leaving Cert Maths Reform Group

Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin traces her commitment to mathematics to childhood nights in Mayo, when she watched starlight travel across the sky. She studied theoretical physics at university not because she considered herself the best mathematician in her class, but because she wanted to understand how mathematics explains the world.

That education introduced her to game theory, quantum mechanics and traffic-flow modelling. As a secondary-school teacher and now teacher educator, she has tried to give children the chance to experience mathematics as both rigorous and creative. Even students who do not continue with the subject will use mathematical knowledge in daily life, from comparing energy rates to managing work schedules.

Ní Shúilleabháin says mathematical literacy also supports democratic participation. It helps people challenge inaccurate claims and question data. Yet access to higher-level maths remains unequal. Schools designated as socioeconomically disadvantaged, or Deis schools, are significantly less likely to offer it than other schools. Because higher-level maths carries 25 bonus points, she says this inequality can shut many young people out of further and higher education.

She is also concerned about gender differences in achievement. Girls historically performed as well as boys at the highest level, but since the 2012 curriculum reform they have been less likely to receive a H1 in Leaving Certificate maths. No similar gap appears in the Junior Cycle. Work by the Society of Actuaries of Ireland suggests the exam may favour spatial-reasoning and problem-solving skills strengthened by applied mathematics, a subject studied by twice as many boys as girls.

For Ní Shúilleabháin, that points to a problem in the design and assessment of the curriculum, not in girls themselves. These concerns explain why she resigned in June from the group responsible for reforming Leaving Certificate mathematics.