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EDUCATION: NEWS■
Google, Intel and IBM. If an organisa-
‘We are asleep when it
Government is aware that reform is
tion has 20 Polish IT engineers in a needed at second level as there is not
high-cost location like Dublin, surely
comes to maths. We’re just
adequate understanding of mathe-
someone in head office is going to be matical concepts. We aim to ensure
asking why don’t they have an office not getting out of bed on this changes by introducing ‘Project
in a lower-cost location such as
the issue and this could be
Maths’ in 24 schools this September,
Poland. This is potentially a very seri- which is a new concept to bring about
ous issue for the economy and no one
disastrous for the economy’
a cultural change in the teaching of
seems brave enough to take the steps maths.”
that need taking,” Dempsey warned. This development will see much
Meanwhile, Education Minister greater emphasis being placed on stu-
Batt O’Keeffe TD’s recent decision to dent understanding of mathematical
re-introduce third-level fees for the concepts, with increased use of con-
well-off was welcomed by Engineers texts and applications that will enable
Ireland, which warned that the money an education system that equips stu- students to relate mathematics to
should be used to boost the quality of dents to face the modern world and everyday experience. In parallel with
teaching in core subjects like maths, solve the challenges of today and the changes in curriculum there will be
science and engineering. future,” Power warned. changes in the way mathematics is
“There is still resistance from young Minister O’Keeffe, speaking on assessed in order to reflect the differ-
people to engineering and science Eamon Keane’s Lunchtime pro- ent emphasis on understanding and
training in schools and colleges and gramme on Newstalk 106 FM, said in skills in the teaching and learning of
there continues to be an ongoing shy- response to the maths failure rate in mathematics.
ing away from these so-called ‘hard’ the Leaving Cert that he is about to The Government aims to roll out
subjects,” said Engineers Ireland launch an initiative aimed at develop- the programme all over the country in
director general, John Power. ing students’ problem-solving skills. 2010. “We want to pursue a fail-safe
“It is the Government’s responsibil- “Maths has been a cause for con- mechanism that will drive participa-
ity to foster the country’s economic cern for some time and obviously the tion rates in higher-level maths from
interests and a key element of this is 12pc failure rate is disappointing. The 17pc to 30pc,” said Minister O’Keeffe.
DIT predicts the need for
new business skills
understanding massive amounts of data
By Marie Boran
and then using this knowledge to make
sound decisions. Whether it is uncover-
ing fraud in banking transactions,
THE first-ever Irish third-level course improving the quality of healthcare
on analytics has been officially launched received by patients, or predicting which
as Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) customers will respond to a marketing
and software firm SAS Ireland collabo- campaign, the applications of data ana-
rated on a new skill set incorporating lytics cross all industries. As such, the
business intelligence and predictive ana- ability to strategically apply analytics is
lytics into DIT’s school of computing a core skill across industry, making
master’s programmes. experts in the field in high demand.”
Data analytics is a growing field and DIT president Professor Brian
large businesses increasingly require a Michael Kearney, SAS Ireland and Norton said this was a good example of
way for the large volumes of data they Professor Brian Norton, DIT exactly how business and academia can
generate to be sieved through and work together by putting these con-
analysed, pinpointing where they can powerful tools and software being used cepts into practical use with the most
best expand their business or capitalise by business professionals in this field. recent technologies in the field. This
on certain aspects of innovation. “Modern society is awash in data,” new master’s course follows the intro-
The course, headed by lecturer Dr said Michael Kearney, managing direc- ductory SAS certification course in
Brian Mac Namee, will teach these skills tor, SAS Ireland. “The tools, concepts DIT, which saw 20 students receiving
but will also expose students to the and practices of analytics hold the key to SAS qualifications.
September 2008 Knowledge Ireland 75
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