Decline of science education

The 36th National Science Week, now going on, appears to be as lacklustre as science education's appeal to students is lukewarm to students in secondary schools. This leads all those, who want promotion of science and technology, to believe that the country is set to miss the demographic dividends due to lack of skills in the country's rising population.
Low quality education being imparted in lower tiers of the education system has mostly to blame for the rot. As keen observers of secondary education in Bangladesh will agree, students at primary and secondary levels are scared of mathematics and science topics as they are not groomed to match IQ needed for studying these. This is because mere rating and certificates are recognised to be only yardsticks of a student's brilliance, many remain miles away from tricky and tough subjects which only really good students can only grasp.  There is absolutely no room for cheating in science education; if some students cheat at one stage, they are sure to be caught red-handed in the next!      
Crude statistics testify to what is really happening in the field of science education in secondary schools. The number of science students has fallen by half while that of commerce students has risen significantly. The is because of the lure of lucrative jobs. This was evident from two recent research works carried out on 440 secondary schools of 23 districts.
On the other hand, of the total SSC examinees in 1988, 41 per cent was science students, but the figure dropped to 22 per cent in 2010. At the secondary level, science students decreased by 31 per cent over the last eight years, according to the education ministry data.
Of the 52 secondary schools in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia, as many as 32 do not have a single science student. On an average, only 18 per cent of 148 SSC level students at each school study science which should have been more than 50 per cent. More than 94 per cent schools surveyed never organised a science fair, while there has been no such fair in all the schools in Chittagong and Sylhet. The survey revealed that nearly half of the teachers influence students negatively, saying it is hard as well as costly to pass from the science group.
 In 1987, the Ershad government had made religious study compulsory for all students and higher mathematics an optional subject for science students, which was earlier compulsory for them. As a result, science graduates became math teachers without studying higher mathematics. Notably, 3,600 out of 4,500 math teachers studied only general mathematics at the SSC level.
Science education in the country has suffered an alarming decline over the last two decades as science teaching is no longer considered lucrative and the government remains indifferent to the situation.
As a result, providing manpower with skills thus remains a difficult challenge for the country.  The decline in science education has also contributed to shortage in skilled hands in workplaces. The country's largest revenue earning ready-made garment (RMG) sector is now reportedly experiencing 25 per cent skill gaps in mid-management level while chemical industries are also reporting difficulties in finding qualified engineers.
While it is really difficult to completely overhaul the education system by maintaining quality, the government for the time being will do well, in view of growing army of educated unemployed youth, to promote  technical and vocational education and training for skill development. As industry sources estimate, the country experiences a shortage of 900,000 skilled workforce in RMG sector, 100,000 workers in shipbuilding sector and 60,000 workers in leather sector. The annual need for skilled workers in RMG sectors is 200,000 while the shipbuilding would need another 40,000 skilled workers in next two years.
Citing Indian examples, a top educationist Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury has said that study of science should be rewarded financially and socially to stop the decline in science education. Climate change challenges are in a way a great opportunity to advance science education in the country, as solutions to its adverse impacts lie in science and technology.
Another researcher Hossain Zillur Rahman has felt the necessity of social motivation alongside the government initiative to ignite interest in science education. Regarding skill development, he has called for developing systemic channels to assess market demand and transmit strategic information to skill providers and make training programmes responsive to market needs. He also underlined the need for following public-private partnership for funding skill agenda, attaching importance to 'training for trainers' and introducing appropriately designed certification programme to give recognition to below diploma level (handyman) and self-taught skills to move up the skill ladder on employment opportunities in the overseas job market.
It is now time for the government to form a national taskforce to address the decline of science education, ensure financial incentive for science students and teachers, provide higher salary for science teachers, set up a science laboratory at every school and dedicate slots in the TV channels' airtime to science education. Internet and other communication tools need to be used to disseminate science education. There must also be motivation of teachers, parents and students through mass media, and provision of training for the existing teachers and demonstrators and reform of the curriculum.
arjayster@gmail.com