Reasons for shrinking secondary science student enrollment in Bangladesh

To cope with the rapid advancement in science and technology and with knowledge explosion, the education policies of the countries in Asia and the Pacific give emphasis on science and technology education as an integral part of formal school education. Some countries have already started implementing new program of science, many countries are in the process of planning but Bangladesh’s plan is yet to take shape for the improvement of science curriculum. As a result, enrollment of students in science at the secondary level in Bangladesh has been shrinking gradually. It is imperative to investigate why scope of science education here decreases in the days of scientific advancement worldwide.
Thus, the aim of this study is to improve the curriculum, science contents, and methods of teaching science, know-how on the use of process skill, teaching aids and laboratory equipment for teaching science in more meaningful and efficient manner to upright the science student enrollment scenario in place of the unfortunate declining trend in enrollment.
For this, a study was conducted by collecting opinions of Head Teachers, classroom science teachers, education managers and some renowned science educators via questionnaires, focus group discussion (FGD) and interview.
The study revealed that reduced scope of employment, scarcity of efficient science teachers, inadequate supply of science equipment, and above all no ‘priority of science’ over arts and business studies have been the main causes of shrinking enrollment science students.