Thursday, May 29, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By K. Ramachandran
Make the curriculum interesting and exciting for learners and use experiments to demonstrate technologies, they suggest. The students must be told that one could be a `superhuman' even in science, and the ``abundant'' opportunities and recognition available in "doing science" must be highlighted. The country needs to encourage science teaching in schools and colleges and attract the best teachers by changing recruitment policies, they say. At a time when the growth in standards and quality of science education has not matched the corresponding quantitative growth in engineering or technical education, persons such as the former Vice-Chancellor of Madras University, P.T. Manoharan, note that in the WTO regime, only countries which were strong in basic sciences, and have to their credit, consequent discoveries/inventions substantiated by the resulting patents, will rule the world. He says that while one could not force any intelligent person to take to any specific kind of learning — engineering or science — a time has come to attract some of "our brilliant young minds to science." The IITs could offer four-year Masters programme in science on a par with the B. Tech courses. The top 25 per cent students could be given scholarships. Some colleges/university departments could be named `Centres of Excellence' in basic science to attract the best talent. The top students here should be given training in advanced S and T units. "We should consider innovative means to employ science graduates in the universities, industries and research labs run by the Government." But before this, the AICTE should start closing down all ``non-performing or mal-performing'' engineering colleges. The Madurai Kamaraj University Vice-Chancellor, P.K. Ponnuswamy, says science education should be combined with a ``strong slant'' towards application. The system and the curriculum should inculcate excellence in basic sciences and encourage the aptitude to convert concepts and discoveries in technologies. Each institution should be helped to create facilities to demonstrate technologies. It is time a small expert group in each area joined together to design experiments ``which could be done in class.'' An experiment worth emulating in India is espoused by P. Sundararajan, a former president of the Canadian Society for Chemistry. He notes that the Society every year organises a `chemistry week' nationwide when its members hold `demonstration labs' in crowded shopping mall areas. Interesting experiments are demonstrated to kindle youngsters' interest so that they could later do science. Even parents and grand parents get interested and goad the children into learning more. He suggests another mode. Research students in chemistry, physics or Math go to village schools and kindle children's interest in science learning. Yathindra, professor in Anna University, says Vice-Chancellors required more autonomy and independence from any interference to plan curriculum and recruit good teachers. Funding, he says, is not a problem. When funds are available, what is needed is a set of `do-able' projects to improve science education and the undergraduate science curriculum standards.
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