BANGALORE: Amid growing concerns over science education in the state, the need for a different approach in this regard is being echoed by teachers, academicians and industry-watchers. One problem that is credited to have brought science education to a worrisome state is that our education system is too inclined towards immediate demands, ignoring the necessary scientific temper.“We have reached a situation where science is opted by PU students only with a view of pursuing engineering courses. The entire education system is focused on examinations. Nobody really cares about logical or analytical thinking, while we are facing grave shortage of science teachers,” said former director of Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) D Jagannatha Rao.In a bid to “create” interest towards science, several schools have adopted informal methods of teaching, which are not bound by the confines of a textbook. For instance, Sri Vani Education Centre has setup a unique science park called Sri Vani Hanumavana Science Park. “The park consists of plants, life-size animal models, an open air physics lab, a geological and physical science museum, a rock garden and a bio-diversity park to make science fun,” said the secretary of the institution Sharada Prasad.Similarly, Brain Stars has developed a math-kit called Infinity, to make mathematics student-friendly. “The idea of the kit is to create interest for mathematics and approach the subject from a different angle, than the regular chalk-talk method. So far, we have signed up with five schools for the kit,” said co-founder of Brain Stars Dr Sriraghavan.“I think informal methods are the way forward for science education. Our museum gets a million visitors, but most are tourists and not students. Change has to happen at the societal level, as students are bogged down by peer = pressure,” director of Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum Shivaprasad Khened said. “The state’s school science curriculum is well worded and emphasises on application of scientific temper. However, the textbooks are uninteresting, uninspiring, incoherent and loaded with factual information, devoid of efforts to promote an in-depth understanding,” said former principal and professor of physics of Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), Mysore, Dr S N Prasad.While the onus for the problem is always placed on the state government, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri told Express: “We are doing our bit by holding science fairs, teaming up with NGOs for innovative programmes and using computers to impart scientific knowledge. But I think the larger question is how we can make students take science at higher levels of education.”
Comments
0 comment