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Govt urged to increase maths and physics students
2008-04-29 18:47:08
By Beatrice Philemon
Serious efforts need to be made by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to increase the number of students studying mathematics and physics in advanced level secondary education, it was advised.
A lecturer from the College of Engineering and Technology at the University of Dar es salaam, Dr David Mfinanga, said recently that the percentage of students taking mathematics and physics has declined from 15.7 to 12.4 per cent in 2007.
Dr Mfinanaga was speaking at the fourth African Regional Conference on Engineering Education held in Dar es Salaam last week.
``This is disturbing for a country intending to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDCs) through science and technology. It is worrying for a country that intends to promote science and technology,`` he said.
He observed that there had been a decrease in the performance of science subjects in advanced certificate of secondary education, of late.
Dr Mfinanga said this has repercussions on engineering enrolment in our universities, attributing the anomaly to lack of qualified teachers, laboratories, books and sound background in sciences.
He said the number of applicants in universities by mathematics candidates, has been declining, reflecting a drop in enrolment of such students in advanced level secondary school.
Dr Mfinanga suggested that in order to reduce such shortcomings, more qualified teachers in the subjects should be trained and posted to meet student needs.
``Schools must have operating laboratories and enough books in order to check the decrease in performance,`` he advised.
Meanwhile, Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Prof Duncan Fraser, said that improved teaching and curriculum reform, research into student learning has helped produce increasing numbers of qualified engineering graduates.
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