Fine Gael Innovation Spokesperson Deirdre Clune TD said the results of an ASTI survey proves the quality of science education in Ireland is deteriorating as a consequence of the Government’s Education cutbacks.

The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland has released the results of a survey of 300 schools (pdf 2,665KB) which revealed that:
Almost 10% of secondary schools have been forced to drop physics as a subject offered to students;
In 70% of schools, higher and ordinary level science classes have been combined.

These results prove that the Government’s education cutbacks, and the increased pupil/teacher ratio, has produced a backward step in the quality of science education.

The recent Innovation Taskforce Report highlighted the importance of science in developing our economy and set out a blueprint for our future built on a solid science foundation. But this new report shows how far removed we are from the Ireland that was envisaged in this report. Denying students the option of taking science subjects and combining higher and ordinary level science classes cannot but reduce the standard of our science education further.

The National Competitiveness Council and Engineers Ireland among others have called for science and maths education to be reformed and prioritised. But the Government has so far failed to implement this recommendation.

We are now asking young students in our schools to take up maths and science subjects while cutting the resources provided to support them. This is not fair to the students or the teachers within the system and will not help build an innovative science based economy.