The Government should put its money where its mouth is on science

TALKBACK:'Ireland's economic future depends critically on the supply of an increasing number of people qualified in science and engineering."

Are these the words of Craig Barrett, former Intel boss, at the recent economic forum in Farmleigh? No. In fact they were the opening remarks of ex-DCU president Danny O’Hare in his introduction to the 2002 Task Force on Science.

The task force’s report made six key proposals to boost student interest in science.

I sat on the body that hoped to implement the report’s proposals for three years. But the modest funding required to implement the six recommendations was never allocated by Government – despite the robust state of the public finances at that time.

Let me quote you what O’Hare wrote in 2002; by allowing his words to gather dust we have put the entire future of our economy and our future prosperity at risk. According to O’Hare: “Unless there is a major national effort to reverse the fall-off, any other money we spend on attracting overseas investment will go largely to waste.

“The positive side of the picture is our belief that prompt and comprehensive action, begun at once and carried out with commitment, can reverse the present decline in interest in the sciences. The result can be to increase not only the quantity but the quality of future graduates – equally important dimensions of the challenge.

“Our six-point action strategy addresses the many inter-linking facets of the problem, at all levels of the education system. The strategy is holistic: for success, it must all be carried out in full and simultaneously. Equally, it requires whole-hearted support – not only from the political system but also from all players in the education system and from industry. A readiness to change attitudes and to embrace new ways of doing things will be as important as the financial investment.

“Carrying out this strategy will not be cheap: an additional €178 million in capital investment, plus additional recurrent costs of €66 million each year. But to put this spending in context: what is at stake is the ability of our young economy to continue to grow, and to maintain the success already achieved.”

By far the most important of the Task Force on Science’s recommendations related to the resourcing of the physical sciences in our primary and post-primary schools. This recommendation is at the core of the problem of the uptake in the physical sciences. If students have no access to decent laboratory facilities, they may not discover the joy of the subject.

So let’s stop pretending what Craig Barrett said at Farmleigh recently requires a new task force. My advice? Just implement the recommendations that have sat in the Government’s in-tray for the past seven years.

Here they are again – in case the Government has forgotten:

• Provide adequate resources to support practical science in schools
• Provide on-going funding for primary science
• Improve the stock of laboratories and equipment for post-primary science
• Provide technical assistants in post-primary schools
• Augment funding for Junior Cert and Transition Year science
• Augment funding for Leaving Certificate physical sciences

Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin. He is a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors