Is science boring or does poor teaching just make it seem that way? Why are students abandoning physics and chemistry in their droves? Why does industry keep such a low profile if they will need chemists and physicists to keep their businesses going in the future?
These are issues that will be addressed tomorrow in The Irish Times' Education and Living supplement. The report, by Yvonne Healy, looks at possible reasons for the decline of chemistry and physics, even as the numbers taking biology continue to rise.
The students suggest that these are boring subjects, boringly taught. A survey last year highlighted outdated courses, inaccessible language and dull teaching methods.
Her report also indicates that the very industries in need of science graduates keep a very low profile on the issue. The chemical and pharmaceutical industries currently employ 12,000 but they don't advertise or recruit aggressively so students remain unaware of the opportunities.
Whatever the reasons, the decline is well established. The numbers taking chemistry in the Leaving has fallen from 20.8 per cent to 12 per cent in the decade from 1987 to 1997. Over the same period the numbers taking physics fell from 21.2 per cent to 15.9 per cent.
Educators are now questioning where tomorrow's science teachers and laboratory researchers will come from and whether the Celtic Tiger, born and bred on high tech industry, will remain fit and well if scientific skills shortages emerge.
