The worrying decline of science education

We are living in the age of information and science. Society without strong scientific basis is therefore unimaginable in the race of today's world and no nation can survive without adaptation of the knowledge of Science and Technology. The seventh most populated country in the world, Bangladesh has meager shares of natural resources. Hence, for development, our manpower needs to be used effectively and it is possible through proper training with the aid of science and technology.
Science education is not only for scientific research but also for creating scientific mindset to comprehend things around us. Propelled by this spirit countries of the first world are marching forward by advancing science education and generating science graduates whereas Bangladesh is falling behind. Statistics say that in secondary level science student has fallen by half over the past two decades. In 1988, among the total number of SSC examinees 41 per cent was science students but in 2010, only 22 per cent. During the period from 2000 to 2009, the enrolment in science education has witnessed an average decrease of 34.32 per cent. This decreasing rate among the girls has been found to be 36.34 per cent and that among the boys, 32.3 per cent. Two individual studies by Bangladesh Freedom Foundation (BFF) and Teaching Quality Improvement (TQI) project showed that the high school students have abandoned science in a big way in the past decade. In 2010, BFF conducted their survey among 240 schools in seven divisions whereas TQI among 200 schools in 16 districts. BFF's research says that the rate of the change among enrolled science students over the last few years marks a decrease of over 31.33 per cent. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), in 2001, among a group of 7,86,220 enrolled SSC examinees, 2,64,100 (33.59 per cent) were Science students. In 2010, from an extended pool of 9,12,577 SSC examinees, there were 2,03,992 (22.35 per cent) an reduced number of Science students. Near about a similar scene is observed in the HSC sector as well. In 2001, there were 1,26,315 (24.03 per cent) science students among a total number of 5,25,755 HSC examinees. But in 2010, the number of HSC Science students dropped to 1,06,527 (18.35 per cent) from a total increased number of 5,80,623 enrolled HSC students. This declining trend also seems to continue towards the undergraduate level. Another study in 2009 depicts that in secondary level the percentage of science students were 14.5 per cent which dropped to 13.3 per cent by 2011 and now (2015) it is declined at less than 12 per cent. Compared to urban this situation is much worst in rural areas. Study says in Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia district a number of 32 schools out of 52 do not have a single science student. That actually indicates the real bleak picture of science education in Bangladesh. So, it is high time to identify the causes of turndown.
As the gross numbers of student enrolment are rising nationwide, the decreasing interest in the science education reflects a deeper problem.
In this era of globalisation, multinational companies are invading into developing countries like Bangladesh with their products to sell. Therefore they recruit employees for acting as their agents or salesperson only. This introduces a very lucrative job market over the time, with minimum or sometimes no requirements of scientific and engineering knowledge from the applicants.
This has a big contribution to increase the interest of studying business-oriented courses nowadays. As a result, the students are shifting from science as its job opportunity is apparently less than others; this is quite alarming. Moreover, there are also some other reasons. According to the survey of TQI, 12.23 per cent student believes that there is a crisis of competent science teachers in the institutions. As many as 11.29 per cent says there is a lacking of scientific equipment in schools. Survey of BFF indicates that 65 per cent of secondary and higher secondary science students believe there are too few science teachers at their schools. At rural areas nationwide, the survey found 78.5 per cent of the teachers and 76.1 per cent of the parents of students think that there is an acute shortage of laboratory facilities at these schools and colleges. Again, science education is expensive compared to Arts and Commerce. TQI statistic says, around 7.52 per cent science students think Science education is expensive and 14.42 per cent family has financial crisis. BFF survey results show that 60 per cent of science students and 80 per cent of students in the Arts and Commerce agree that science is a pricier subject to study in. Study also found that the syllabus of science subjects is too large and complex compared to other groups (34.1 per cent) and science books are too voluminous. As many as 39 per cent teachers also think that the curriculum is hard and 45 per cent of the students cannot understand the curriculum.
The prosperity of a country is intimately connected with the progress of scientific and technical knowledge in the society. The government should increase the budget for the education sector and should allocate a separate budget for science education as is done in India and Pakistan.
A better coordinated and updated science curriculum at every level of the education system should be introduced, science textbooks need to be simplified, teachers' salaries need to be raised, and advanced science laboratories in every school and college should be installed. A terrestrial television channel dedicated to broadcast education programme should be established  and all existing channels should also allocate an airtime for the education programme.
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