EDUCATION Minister Shaik Baksh has identified science and technology as two vital areas that will help Guyana realise the benefits of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), and become a more competitive nation in the 21st century.
Addressing scores of students at the opening of a one-day global micro-science experiment workshop at Queen’s College, Baksh said considerable attention is being paid to attracting students to pursue studies in these areas and a national science coordinator has been appointed to lead the process.
According to a Ministry of Education press release, some of the offers the Education Ministry are looking at to entice students include scholarships to attend the University of Guyana (UG), subsidy for students sitting the sciences at CSEC and special incentives for teachers trained in the sciences and mathematics.
A non-graduate certificate programme for the sciences — physics, chemistry, and biology — has already been introduced, and teachers who complete the programme will receive an increase in remuneration.
Currently the capacity in the sciences is weak, but a National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, along with an action plan, has been developed.
Baksh noted too that though the number of students sitting biology, chemistry and physics at CSEC has been increasing in recent years, much more work needs to be done to encourage students to pursue the single sciences.
In 2006, some 680 candidates sat chemistry. This number increased to 949 in 2010. For biology, the number of candidates in 2006 was 1000, but this figure increased to 1158 in 2010. In physics, 577 took the examinations in 2006, and four years later the number of candidates increased to 666.
At the last CSEC examinations, students recorded a 69 per cent pass at Grades One to Three in physics; a 61.8 per cent pass in chemistry and a 70.2 per cent pass in biology.
Over the past three years, the average passes, Grades One to Three in chemistry, physics and biology were 61.4 per cent, 60 per cent and 67.3 per cent respectively.
The ministry is also placing strong emphasis on the development of state-of-the-art science laboratories in schools. Some $57M has been recently approved for the refurbishment of 10 laboratories and similar work is expected to be done on several other schools next year.
The workshop aims to sensitise teachers to the use of micro-science kits, a low cost, effective, mini-laboratory tool used to carry out experiments at Grades Seven, Eight and Nine. The kits will be piloted in several targeted secondary schools across the country from September.
The kit promotes a student-centred, inquiry based approach to the teaching of science, and is widely touted as an effective means to stimulate students’ interest in science at the early grades.
Notably, Tejwattie Girwar, an education officer, in a recent study on the impact of inquiry-based science, using the micro-science kits on students’ attainment and attitude, found that the portable min-laboratory can positively influence learners’ attainment.
The study, which was part fulfillment of her Master’s Degree in Education, also recommended that the kit be used in schools.
The workshop was organised by the ministry with support from UG and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Ministry seeks to have more students turn to science and technology
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