By IANS,
New Delhi : Concerned over a significant drop in the number of students pursuing science and mathematics in higher studies, former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and renowned space scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan will debate the state of science education in India with hundreds of school teachers Monday.
The human resource development ministry in collaboration with the SRF Foundation, a non-profit organisation that runs Lady Shri Ram College and Shri Ram Schools, is organizing a national conference on science and mathematics education in secondary schools.
Kalam will inaugurate the three-day conference beginning June 30. Kasturirangan, who currently is the director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, will deliver the keynote address.
“Around 250 teachers from various private and government schools as well as eminent academicians and intellectuals will be debating issues related to the teaching of science and mathematics in schools,” Mukund Trivedy, head of corporate communications of the foundation, told IANS.
The conference is being organised in response to the government’s growing concern that there is a significant drop in the number of students pursuing science and mathematics in higher studies.
The participants will deliberate and suggest ways and means to improve the facilities and quality of teaching in schools that will motivate the students to take up science and mathematics for higher studies.
“The conference shall also examine ways in which people can share good practices and receive support in order to raise the benchmark in science and mathematics education across India. A charter of recommendations will be prepared at the end of the conference and presented to the ministry,” Trivedi added.