Extra points for students who study science and the possibility of making a science subject compulsory for the Leaving Certificate are proposed in a submission to the Government's task force on the physical sciences.
The deans of science in the Republic's seven universities put together the submission to the task force, an expert group looking at the sharp decline in the number of students studying science.
The submission, seen by The Irish Times, warns of the "possible extinction" of chemistry and physics and, to a lesser extent, the sciences in general at schools. This would have a long-term impact on the Government's attempts to foster a knowledge-based economy, it states.
It proposes a number of initiatives that could help increase student interest in the sciences. It wants the Leaving Cert science syllabuses to be "less detailed and certainly more practically orientated" to help overcome the fact that students are three times more likely to fail physics than geography.
The recent injection of €19 million to improve school laboratories has had little impact, as only a third of this amount actually went into school facilities, it states. "A short-medium term solution could involve opening up of the university/institute of technology laboratories to schools at certain times of the year."
It calls for funding for dedicated laboratories, located in third-level institutions, for secondary students in physics, chemistry and biology, with access particularly targeted at transition year classes.
Controversially, it proposes that students taking science subjects benefit from extra points, as previously existed for honours maths students. It adds: "Consideration should be given to making at least one science subject compulsory (core) at Leaving Certificate."
It proposes "protected quotas" for science graduates who wish to gain entry to medicine and other heathcare studies, a suggestion that has been resisted by representative bodies for medicine.
It also calls for a "separate entry quota" for science graduates into Higher Diploma in Education programmes in the universities. The current entry system, based on the ranking of applicants' degree results, had meant that some years "there has been no trainee science teachers" and no new blood in science education.
"We see this as important in that it has been reported that in many schools, non-specialists are teaching the physical sciences, which brings its own problems," the submission states. It calls for more permanent posts in schools, making science an ex-quota discipline. "The opportunity of sharing science teachers between local schools should be investigated in this context."
It pays particular attention to in-service teacher training opportunities in the sciences, calling for measures to be taken at Government level to support training leading to further qualifications. This would be part of long-term, in-career developmental programmes, it adds.
"Such in-service training must be supported for example by scholarships to cover fees, tax relief, block work release and ideally include paid leave of absence."
It calls for more career guidance counsellors with primary degrees in the sciences and proposes a "science mentoring scheme" for schools. This would strengthen links between the schools and universities and facilitate interaction.
The universities, it says, have already begun to adjust to the decline in student numbers and have introduced schemes to help retain students taking the sciences. "Extension of these schemes is severely hampered by lack of core budget resources to the universities," it states.
It calls for an improvement in staff-student ratios, funding for dedicated teaching laboratories and support for course development.
MAIN POINTS
• Make the Leaving Cert science syllabuses less difficult.
• Give extra points for students taking science subjects.
• Make at least one science subject compulsory at Leaving Cert
• Create more permanent posts for science teachers in schools.
• Quota-based access for science graduates to medical school and Higher Diploma in Education courses.
• Government support for in-service training for teachers, and post-graduate opportunities.
• Funding for dedicated teaching laboratories in third-level institutions to be used by secondary students
