| |
EDUCATION:
SCIENCE
In
A Free Fall
Once
commanding pride of place in Indian classrooms the stream is becoming
passe among the new generation
By
Ninad D. Sheth
The
year is 2010. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) places an
advertisement in The Times, London, inviting applications from
young rocket scientists. India's only space launch agency needs to fill
over a dozen vacancies at its top-secret facilities back in India. Countless
ads in Indian newspapers in the past year had drawn a blank. Desperate,
the Centre gives ISRO the go-ahead-even at the risk of employing a mole
in such a critical organisation. The reason for the reckless move: years
of neglect had caused a severe attrition in the number of science graduates
in Indian colleges. The talent just wasn't there any longer.
 |
| "If
the trend isn't halted it will impair our ability to compete globally."
V.S. Ramamurthy, Sec. Dept. of Science and Technology
|
You think
that's farfetched? Not if you look at the macro picture on science education.
Enrolment in science courses in the 200 universities and 10,555 colleges
across the country is on the decline. With colleges witnessing a 10 per
cent drop in student enrolment, the panic buttons are being pressed and
scientists and administrators across the country are sitting up and taking
notice. Take a look at some niggling indicators:
- While
cut-off percentages over the past two years for commerce and the humanities
have risen by 5 percentage points, those for science courses in Delhi
have dropped by 3 percentage points.
- At IIT
Mumbai, for the first time there was no PhD scholar for basic sciences
this year.
- Officials
running the National Science Talent Search Scheme for undergraduates
this year could award only 12 of the 60 scholarships as the rest of
the candidates did not meet requirements.
- Major
scientific institutions such as the Atomic Energy Commission report
a decline in the quality of candidates applying for posts.
- Although
the overall number of science students has remained stagnant, University
Grants Commission (UGC) data show that there is a 10 per cent fall in
basic sciences alone.
Clearly,
science education, which once commanded pride of place among Indians,
is becoming passe among the new generation. Says a concerned Professor
V.S. Ramamurthy, secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST):
"What's truly worrying is not the quantity of science graduates coming
out but the quality. If we don't halt the trend now, in a decade we may
not have enough competent scientists to man our research institutions.
It could impair our ability to compete globally." UGC Chairman Hari
Gautam agrees: "Basic science is the fountainhead. If that runs dry,
applied science like infotech too will suffer."
Pg.2
Top
|
|
Relics
of old empires exist everywhere. Why can't the Mani Shankar Aiyars of
India let them be? asks INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Ravi Shankar in
