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The future development of our economy depends greatly on having a plentiful resource of Science graduates. We now pride ourselves on being a knowledge based economy.
Children love Science. Science allows them to satisfy their natural curiousity and to question the prejudices they have developed about the world they live in. It allows them to see the world from a whole new perspective.
However, something very serious is happening to our education system. Less and less science graduates are choosing teaching as their chosen profession. Teaching is being deprived of young, motivated and quality graduates who would inspire future generations of young scientists. The numbers of pupils taking Physics and Chemistry at Leaving Cert. level has declined to alarmingly low levels in the last number of years.
Such a decline is causing worry at government level. Initiatives have been set up to try and promote the sciences at second level. There are increased capitation grants for pupils studying Physics and Chemistry. Any initiative becomes worthless if the teachers to teach these subjects are not around. A school in Wicklow that has been very successful at the Young Scientists Exhibition cannot replace two teachers in their school: a Physics and a Chemistry teacher.
The future development of our economy depends greatly on having a plentiful resource of Science graduates. We now pride ourselves on being a knowledge based economy. This means we aim to attract companies to our country who need an educated workforce available to them - not cheap labour that is so readily available in many poorer countries. One doesn't need to be Einstein to see the importance for paying teachers a good salary that will attract the brightest graduates into the profession. This dispute is about protecting the status of the teaching profession.
