Educating children and women is essential to mainstreaming science in
South Asia, writes T. V. Padma.
AsianScientist (Nov. 5, 2012) – Science academies in South Asia have varied
histories, methods of funding, and degrees of autonomy and influence, and their
countries have different development priorities.
But when SciDev.Net talked to the
heads of many of these organisations recently, on the sidelines of the first summit of
South Asian science academies – from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India,
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – which was organized by the Indian National
Science Academy in New Delhi, in September, it was clear they shared a common
concern: science education and development.
“If I have to identify a couple
of [science] issues which are directly related to development, they are
education for all, and science education for a large number of people, both men
and women,” says Shamsher Ali, former president of the Bangladesh Academy of
Sciences.
For Ali, the key is women’s
education: an educated woman tends to safeguard and nurture her own children’s
education, and is also better informed about the need for family planning,
comparatively empowered, and better able to take decisions, he says.
Ali also advocates harnessing the
media for raising awareness of development issues such as climate change,
rather than it merely functioning as a channel for entertainment.
“I think all governments should
spend more on education, science education and women, and they [should] use the
media to create awareness of the right to empowerment,” he says.
Locana Gunaratna, president of
the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, also stresses the importance of
science education. “Sri Lanka has a high rate of literacy, but it is not
scientifically literate,” he says.
His counterpart in the Pakistan
Academy of Sciences, Atta-ur-Rahman, a former science minister, agrees.
“There is no realization that the
real wealth of our country lies in our children,” he says, and unleashing this
potential through high quality education holds the key to the region’s
development.
“If countries of the region want
to march forward, they have to invest at least 7–8 percent of their gross
domestic product [GDP] on a long-term, continuous basis for primary, secondary,
and tertiary [education], and in the fields of science and technology,” he
concludes.
Different countries, different needs
But the academies are also
confronted by different national issues. For the Nepal Academy of Science and
Technology (NAST), the chief concerns are climate change and energy.
The organization’s president,
Surendra Kafle, says the academy, which follows the example of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences by engaging in both research and policy, is trying to help
the government address climate change, including expanding the energy options
to incorporate renewable like solar and micro-hydropower, agriculture, and
river resources.
Similarly, Mauritius, like many
other small island states, faces the threat of rising sea levels and changes in
rainfall patterns as a result of global warming, and is trying to solve its
energy problem.
Mauritius and Nepal are not
alone; almost all developing countries are grappling with problems of climate
change, energy, food, and water resources. But often they do not seem to be
clear in which direction to head.
Atta-ur-Rahman adds: “Most [South
Asian] countries really do not have a clear road map. They have not done a
[technology] foresight exercise to determine in a very scientific manner what
their priority areas should be, with the result that with limited funds they
are trying to do a little bit of everything. In other words, they are spreading
[themselves] too thin.”
Rahman suggests undertaking
regular foresight exercises through extensive consultation with experts in
different scientific disciplines, the private sector and the diaspora.
Countries should also factor in natural resources that could help them carve
out a niche and leverage international advantage technologically and
commercially.
The lack of technology foresight
exercises, he says, means that “there is no clear path for development. And
each government that comes in has its own strategy and approach, with the
result that often things go round in circles rather than in a specific
direction.”
New roles for old academies
This is where science academies
can be useful, functioning as think-tanks and policy advisers guiding countries
towards development.
Their greatest advantage, says
Shamsher Ali, is their multi-disciplinary expertise and their ability to serve
as a ‘depository of knowledge’ in every discipline.
“If we facilitate bringing these
multi-disciplinary experts together, and they, in turn, interact with
[national] educational institutions [and] reach out to a large number of
people, [effectively] acting as a think tank, I think development processes
will be much easier,” Ali says.
Rahman agrees that “academies
can, and should, serve as intellectual think-tanks, looking at not only the
present problems, but also at the horizon and the future, and advising the
government on short-, medium- and long-term strategies for socio-economic
development”.
“What we are talking about now is
evidence-based science dialogue with government,” says Yousuf Maudarbocus,
chairman of the Mauritius Academy of Science and Technology.
He gives the example of academies
advising governments on renewable energy options and on curbing and responding
to climate change — including making changes to lifestyles.
India’s science minister Vayalar
Ravi too reminded the meeting: “Public understanding of science is increasing
in this region and people expect solutions from science.” With their niche
status, science academies “bear a social responsibility to connect science with
the public.”
Drawing lessons from South Asian experience
In Africa, says Ndiaye, there’s a
particularly important role for the academies. In the 1960s, the GDPs of South
Korea and Singapore were similar to those of many African countries, but now,
thanks to investment in science and technology, both are classed as ‘Asian
Tigers’ (highly developed economies in Asia).
On the other side of the coin,
Senegal has more natural resources than South Korea or Singapore, yet its
economy is declining.
“We have to convince our
government of the role and importance of science and technology in development,”
says Ndiaye.
And he points out that it’s a
two-way process: the science academies in India and Pakistan are doing well
because their countries invested in science: “We can take them as examples,”
Ndiaye concludes.
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