Bangladesh Govt's Eye on Science Education

Nahid Urged for Science Education

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid's stress on science education was as significant as it was timely. Underscoring the role of teachers in this regard the minister while inaugurating a science fair at Scholastica School said teachers have a pivotal role in making science education attractive to students, according to a report carried in Saturday's daily sun. The minister also noted that science studies are crucial for the country's development and that the nation would be deprived of development if the new generation lags behind in science studies.

The points the minister made are too obvious to need any elaboration and yet they are becoming increasingly relevant in today's context. Science education, at present, is indeed neglected. Gone are the days of the Sixties when top grade makers in higher secondary exams (called I.Sc. in those days) would as a matter of course choose to study physics, or in some cases chemistry, as the first option. In the course of a generation preferences have been reordered. Qualification in basic science is much less gainful in terms of employment and salary than what education in engineering and technology would fetch. It is employability and marketability of education that determines choice of career. No wonder the most brilliant students are going in for a course in accountancy, management and, of course, business administration. That is also the global trend. The present-day supremacy of market has done the rest to wean students from pursuit of science education. This has led to overall intellectual impoverishment of the nation. After the private universities came into the picture there was significant growth in the number of students with tertiary-level education but basic science and research were further marginalised in their academic programme. And science education is expensive, requires well-equipped lab, trained demonstrators, practical classes, latest journals. It cannot be solely Internet-dependent.

Something has to be done to expand facilities for science education and to make this education attractive to most talented students. The government may have to review its priority and allocation for according greater importance to enriching the country's pool of scientific manpower.শিক্ষা সংক্রান্ত খবরাখবর নিয়মিত পেতে রেজিস্ট্রেশন করুন অথবা Log In করুন।

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