Science very critical

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday March 14, 2022 06:00

It is common knowledge that in particular, schools have been experiencing a serious shortage of science laboratories in the last few years. Science is very critical in the realisation of the national development aspirations of creating a knowledge-based economy. Yet there is no doubt that shortage of science laboratories is impacting adversely on the teaching of science.

Limited science laboratories are more often used sparingly to serve as preparation for practical examinations rather than perform their conventional function of supporting teaching and learning of science on a day-today basis. While the issue of inadequacy of resources is acknowledged, the Kuiper study has revealed that the use of resources in schools is far from optimal.

In his study on low attainment levels at secondary level Professor Jaap Kuiper raised the question of effective and optimal use of existing resources. He noted that that “there is often lack of vision, drive and engagement in actually using the resources available to their full potential.” This clearly demonstrates the pivotal role that school governance plays in the overall health and success of schools. Teaching and management of schools is essentially a human enterprise. Good leaders can produce results in spite of limited resources.

All schools have their own fair share of resource constraints but shrewd managers have a way of navigating difficult terrains. Schools have also been found wanting in the utilisation of the library and ICT.

The Kuiper study has found out that ICT and the library are underrepresented in the teaching and learning process. All secondary schools have at least one computer laboratory. One computer lab cannot be sufficient to cater for the entire school. This is the reason why initially computer labs were intended to promote computer awareness among new entrants into the secondary school system while also catering for the few students pursuing computer studies.

But the goal has since shifted to ensuring infusion of ICT into teaching and learning across all subjects.

However, Kuiper noted with concern that, “it is striking to find that IT in general plays a very minor role in schools. The present-day expectation that IT in some form or other is used in all subjects is not met at all.”

However, not all is lost. There is an ongoing work aimed at enhancing the role of ICT in the learning process. Under the digitisation plan, it seems schools will begin to receive more ICT equipment and capacity building and this should give schools confidence and the technical know-how to get into the into the gear of full integration of ICT into teaching and learning. School libraries too remain underutilised and do not seem to enhance teaching and learning.

School libraries were created to promote a culture of extensive reading and enhance participation of students in the learning process. Yet school libraries are falling short of meeting expectations. Kuiper makes a very interesting observation on libraries: “The books in the library tend to be somewhat out-dated. New acquisitions are not always easy to make due to budget restrictions. In some cases it (library) has been let go to waste and been under-nourished. Use of the library to ask students to be engaged in finding, analysing, evaluating, and using information as an important ingredient in learning is very low.”

Lack of effective utilisation of the library explains why a good number of students entirely rely on teachers and cannot learn on their own outside classroom stimulation. The COVID-19 pandemic should have encouraged policy makers to equip and modernise libraries in order to help learners study independently.

Effective utilisation of physical resources in schools should also be accompanied by proper and appropriate use of human resources. Deployment of teaching staff and school managers also plays a role in student outcomes.

There should be a robust and watertight process of selecting school principals to ensure every school has strong and inspirational leaders capable of overcoming all odds. Successful teachers should be rewarded and deployed accordingly to train and capacitate colleagues.