Changes are urgently needed in the design, delivery and assessment of science courses to reverse the decline in numbers studying science, according to the ICSTI chairman, Dr Ed Walsh.
He was commenting after the council issued a position paper on science in second-level schools last week which concludes that greater effort is required to make science subjects more relevant and attractive.
Science and technology are at the heart of everyday issues, yet there is a need for the Irish school system to reflect this changing environment by making changes in courses and educational processes, it finds.
Dr Walsh said the document "maps out some of the pathways to making the necessary changes". ICSTI expresses concern that innovations in the content and methods of science teaching may not be fully reflected in the way pupils are assessed. All science subjects should be subject at second level to "rolling reviews", with specified timetables for implementing changes, it adds.
The council also proposes that curriculum development, and examination and assessment, currently divided between a statutory agency and a Government Department, should be brought under one roof "to ensure consistency of objectives".
ICSTI comprises scientists, industrialists, academics, science teachers, the Higher Education Authority and representatives of Forfas, which advises on industrial development and science/ technology policy.
It nonetheless acknowledges the initiatives being taken by the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, to address declining science participation at second level. The paper calls for new incentives to attract physical science graduates to teaching; an extension of the programme of investment in school laboratories; and expansion of professional development courses for science teachers. More emphasis should be given to the applications of science and to its social and historical contexts, it adds.
The paper coincides with the publication of a booklet on science and technology research in Irish universities.