Opposition wants science subjects made compulsory

Science and other technology-based subjects should be compulsory for Junior Cert students, Opposition parties said tonight.

A joint policy document by Fine Gael and Labour also calls for improved teacher training and greater use of the internet as an education tool.

The joint document, entitled ’Formula for Success’ aims to combat student failure rates in maths and science and make the subjects more relevant to today’s secondary school students.

Fine Gael education spokeswoman Olwyn Enright said better science education was crucial to Ireland’s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.

She said: “Today there is a huge amount of competition on the international scientific stage. Any country that believes that China and India will be content to focus on manufacturing, leaving scientific development to America or Europe, will be quickly left behind.

“The seeds of scientific development are sown at an early age, and we cannot expect to succeed at third level where we have failed at second. Ireland must now take dramatic steps to reform our education systems as they impact on science, so that we can build a new approach to science and technology from the ground up.”

The Laois Offaly TD expressed concern about the low number of students taking Leaving Certificate Science and the poor Maths exam results particularly at higher levels.

Labour’s education spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan said the challenge required radical, root-and-branch reform of the system.

She blamed Education Minister Mary Hanafin for adopting a highly conservative approach to curriculum reform which had implications not only for the economy but for personal development.

She explained: “Economic success is not the only reason why quality maths and science education is important.

“This year, 12 per cent of ordinary level students failed maths. “We let them leave secondary school without the skills to balance a household budget, let alone participate in the knowledge economy.”

Ms O’Sullivan claimed that the poor image of Science and Maths was being unfairly blamed on pupils while teachers and policy makers got off the hook.

This year, 11,000 Leaving Cert students took honours mathematics compared to an industry-recommended level of 20,000.

One of the joint proposals was to shift the focus in maths and science teaching from rote-learning towards practical case studies and applications.

Greater investment in laboratory and computer equipment was also demanded.