Collapse of science education in schools
May 27, 2014, 7:48 pm , The Island
Prof. C. Deepal Mathew
Chairman,
Science Education Committee of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science 2013. Head, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Medical Faculty University of Colombo.
Science education committee of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science conducted a survey on science education at the G.C.E. (O/L) in 2013. The survey was done in leading schools in the western province.. All the schools surveyed had a) qualified and trained teaching Staff. B) Laboratories c) Library facilities d) computer facilities. The study indicated that 89% of these students attend tuition classes for the science subject. The students attend tuition classes a) to obtain good results (51%) b) to study questions and answers (29%). C) as the time allocated for science in the school time table is inadequate (16%)
72% of the students spend 2 to 4 hours a week to study science in private tuition classes. In fact they spend more time studying science in tuition classes than at school. Therefore science education in schools has collapsed. Students spend from Rs.800 to 1000 per month to study science at private classes. This is a heavy burden on their parents and a conservative calculation indicates parents spend Rs. 1. 8 billion per year for teaching their children science. Therefore there is no free education in Sri Lanka. We only have free schools. The schools have become centers for sports and social activities while teaching is done at tuition classes.
Today it is a common thing for students to behave in an unruly manner and recently even to assault teachers. There is also news items about teachers punishing students in an unacceptable manner. Why have we come to this situation, students are supposed to go to school and learn subject matters and good behaviour from their teachers.
We can observe that many students no longer respect their teachers. This is because students sitting for government examinations no longer depend on school teachers to pass examinations. Teachers also are discouraged from making an extra effort to teach as they know students are going for tuition classes. The tuition masters have become respected figures, as they obtain the gratitude of the pupils and parents for providing knowledge to enable students to pass examinations. They are popular figures and even get elected to political posts. The government itself has recognized this trend by appointing tuition masters to top administrative posts in education.
There are simple methods by which we can reverse this trend. The first important step is to reduce the syllabus for science at GCE (0/L). At present the school teachers are placed between the devil and the deep blue sea. If they cover the syllabus students will not get good results. If they select examination oriented teaching of selected sections, followed by questions and answers the students will get good results and the teachers will be punished by the school administrators. 65% of the students want a reduction in the science syllabus. A more difficult solution would be to have three subjects for science at the GCE (0/L) as Physics, Chemistry and Biology. 72% of the students want to study science as three subjects. Another urgent need is to print books which explain science in a student friendly manner.
The survey also indicated that only 56% of the students went to follow the science stream for the GCE (A/L). The reasons given for not following the science stream are a) difficulty in obtaining admission to a university (35%) b) difficulty in obtaining employment (17%). The students preference for graduate studies are a) Medicine (41%) b) Engineering (33%) c) B.Sc. Courses (4%). 16% of the students, although they want to follow the science stream will not be doing science after the GCE (A/L). This clearly indicated the students do not recognize the important of the B.Sc. Science courses and are not aware of the employment opportunities available for science graduates.
No country has developed into the high income category without development of science and technology. The public has not been informed regarding the contributions of scientists for crop development, industrial production and environmental protection etc. There is an urgent requirement for popularization of science in schools. The scientific institutions should take steps to encourage students to follow B.Sc Science courses at the university level.
