Ambitious Science programme launched

Mar 27, 2012 News

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–    Fifth and sixth graders targeted

An ambitious programme was launched yesterday, with an aim to generate interest among fifth and sixth grade primary school students in Science. The hope is that the venture will create a solid foundation for secondary school.
The programme is as a result of declining interest in science subjects at the secondary level, which in turn leads to fewer students opting to study the pure sciences, such as Physics and Chemistry, at the university level.
Called the Inquiry Base Science Education programme, it is being rolled out in six primary schools.
The pilot project could result in necessary modifications before it is implemented in all schools across Guyana. The schools participating in this pilot phase are Arapaima Primary, CV Nunes Primary, Winfer Gardens, St. Margaret’s, Leonora Primary and Cornelia Ida Primary.

Addressing a launching ceremony at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Project Co-ordinator Petal Jetoo said the main purpose for this project is to build students’ interest to do science – a subject area that is not widely chosen.
Jetoo emphasized that currently the country is challenged by low numbers of students who enter the Science stream at the Secondary level; consequently, even smaller numbers of those students choose to do Pure Sciences at the University level.
“If we were to take all of our Science students at the University level right now and bring them into our school system to teach Science we may very well still be short of scientists in this country,” she stated.
Jetoo related that Guyana’s natural resources have a lot of potential in a world faced with food security problems, and as such, the country needs more scientists and technologists to think critically and be innovative.
She noted that while some equipment may be needed to move forward in this regard, it does not require expensive laboratories, since science is what occurs around the environment. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provided financial assistance for the science kits, and manuals were also prepared by teachers.
The kits were developed according to the Grades Five and Six curriculum guides, which provided exciting experiments that students can do.
“While our curriculum guides told our teachers what to teach in the classroom, we wanted to infuse Inquiry Base Science Education – putting our students in the shoes of the scientists to do experiments, come up with conclusions, and at the end of the lessons you are asked what have you learnt,” Jetoo further explained.
This project was also supported by the School of Education and Humanities at the University of Guyana, and teachers of various primary schools. To aid the development of the programme, many workshops were carried out. Knowledge was also gained from exchanges with the Chilean Academy of Sciences and the Caribbean Academy of Sciences.
She noted that the benefits of the implementation of this methodology in Chile and the United Kingdom were also observed.
According to Director of NCERD, Mohandatt Goolsaran, criticisms about the content depth that is being offered in Grades Five and Six were considered while developing the project.
“We engaged experts in the field of Science Education, shared the concerns, and asked that a review be done. Out of the review and the vision for the movement of Science Education, the programme was developed, to make it real authentic learning, that is, where children are very inquisitive, come up with answers and challenge the teachers  so that they can develop in their science skills,” Goolsaran explained.
He related that the Ministry wants to evoke interest in children and this project is what the sector managed to create with the help of UNESCO.
According to Secretary General, UNESCO Commission (Guyana), Inge Nathoo, the time is now to enhance public interest in Science, and for the nation to play a key role in building scientific capacity and promoting Science-based development.
Nathoo emphasized, “As we move away from the industrial era into a knowledge-driven era, building critical thinking in our young students is vital. Guyana, like the rest of the Caribbean, is on the path of economic progress but needs to reinforce the development of a knowledge led society as a goal of its various development plans.”
She stressed that Guyana must continue to underline the importance of Science and Technology education in schools and strengthen scientific cooperation to overcome knowledge gaps.
The Secretary General asserted that this initiative comes at a time when the world is faced with a food and energy crisis, stressing that the time to use Science and Technology as vehicles for innovations is now.
She related that the hands-on approach that the inquiry-based Science education highlights would provide the opportunity to build students’ interest in the Sciences and help them to connect what they do in the classroom with solutions to problems in their world.

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