In a letter to education secretary Michael Gove The Council
for Science and Technology (CST) warns of the loss of practical science lessons
as schools focus on preparing pupils for written exams.
The council says that without practical learning, science
lessons would be "like studying literature without reading books" and
are lobbying for laboratory experiments to be protected in a shake-up of GCSEs
and A-levels in England.
The CST, which provides strategic advice to the government
says that the focus on exam grades is "pushing inspiring practical work
into the margins as teachers concentrate on preparing for examinations".
In it’s letter to Michael Gove the council states that practical learning
should not be an optional extra but that laboratory based experiments are the
"essence of science and should be at the heart of science learning"
The council believes that the changes to GCSEs and A-Levels
should provide an opportunity to integrate more practical experiments into school
science with teachers encouraged to "devise innovative and challenging
practical based science curricula for their students, including more
independent, project-based work".
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "The
Council for Science and Technology rightly notes that our reforms 'will give
teachers space and freedom' to conduct more experiments and practical’s. By
scrapping modules and January assessments, our reforms will end the constant
treadmill of exams and leave more time for experiments and practical’s in
science. We have also prioritised experiments in our new curriculum. Pupils
will focus on practical work in primary school so they are ready to move on to
more advanced laboratory work in secondary school."
Accompanying the letter from the CST is a report which
argues that there has been a "steady erosion" of laboratory skills in
school science over the past 20 years so let’s hope the planned changes provide
an opportunity to reverse this trend.
Council for science and technology
