Engineers Ireland has expressed concern at the continuing decline in the number of students undertaking higher level mathematics at Leaving Certificate.
Statistics show that 20,516 Leaving students were awarded grades for the higher level maths paper, representing a 4% decrease when compared to 2022.
Although participation in the subject at higher level has increased over the past five years – up 13% when compared to 2019 – participation in the subject has fallen for the second year in a row.
The representative body for engineers, whose membership represents the full spectrum of the engineering profession, also raised concern at the number of students undertaking higher level subjects in other key STEM subject areas, including applied maths (-16%), physics (-5%) and chemistry (-5%).
Damien Owens of Engineers Ireland, said: “Maths and science knowledge are valuable aptitudes for future engineers.
“A proficiency and understanding of STEM by Ireland’s future leaders is also vital to ensure that our country can continue to develop the infrastructure that it needs, while also having the ability to address global challenges such as climate change.”