A deliberate move by the Ministry of Education to foster interest in the sciences has resulted in more children across the country expressing interest in the single sciences, and science subjects as a whole. In fact, over the last two years there has been a 22 per cent increase in the number of entrants for science subjects at the level of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examination.
At least this was the disclosure of Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, who yesterday said that “you would think that with the increase you would see a drop in the grades, well we haven’t had a drop…We have practically maintained our good grades; the number of students that are passing Grades One to Three – acceptable pass marks – and that my friends, is something we can celebrate and we should celebrate.”
The Minister was at the time preparing to officially launch the 2014 leg of the Sagicor Visionaries Challenge which kicked off yesterday at the Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. The event, which is spearheaded by Sagicor Life Inc., is being held in collaboration with the Caribbean Science Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
In continuing her deliberation on the performance of students in the sciences, the Minister asserted that “ it didn’t happen by magic; getting an increased number of children able to enter and write the exams, including all the practicals and so on, came from conscientious thoughts, strategic planning and heavy investments…”
As part of the Ministry’ strategic tactic, was the introduction of Inquiry Based Science at the level of the primary schools. This, Manickchand noted, has allowed very young children to be exposed to science and science subjects by inquiring practically. This move has seen them “going out into the fields, into the gutter looking at frogs, looking at how leaves rot when they fall into a drain…so we have more children from a very young age being exposed to this through Inquiry Based Science Education programme.”
It is because of this, Manickchand noted, that students’ interests were steered towards the sciences. But according to her, being interested and wanting to do science is certainly not enough. “We have to make sure in the Government that we have environments, schools and labs where children can actually enter and write those subjects,” said Minister Manickchand as she revealed that the Education Ministry, in collaboration with UNESCO, has embarked on a programme to make available to schools micro-science kits. These kits, according to the Minister, practically puts a laboratory in every school “Those are some of the little things we have done to make sure that we can see results.”
Speaking to the promotion of science on a global scale, the Minister noted too that “we are absolutely sure in the world that the only way that we can progress speedily and sustain that progression and development, is if we harness the tools and resources we have in persons like you (students), in making sure we can sustain whatever development our various countries can see.”
As such, the Minister stressed the need for countries, with the support of various stakeholders, including the private sector, to encourage and promote the abilities and talents of young people. “Our job as a State, our job as a community…is to provide an environment where you can thrive, where your innovations can be given life, where you can create, where you can think outside of the box, and have those thoughts made into something that can help sustain the world’s development.”
Manickchand therefore, amplified the importance of activities such as the Sagicor Visionary Challenges which serves to promote the use of not only science but all STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. According to her, “throwing down an exhibition once a year or joining Sagicor once a year to pull off a Challenge once a year would not be enough…We would need to do more, we would need to make sure that we provide an environment where you would’ve been exposed from young to the ability to think for yourselves and put those thoughts down into projects…” an undertaking that Government is fully embracing.
Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/11/29/more-students-gravitating-to-the-sciences-manickchand/