Debate:

Botany and zoology under one microscope?

by Professor R. N. de Fonseka

The most striking change in the educational reforms of 1977- 1998 was reducing the four advanced level subjects to three. What used to be taught as Botany and Zoology were replaced to form a new entity - Biology.

The mathematics and physics syllabuses were also changed. I was happy when the educational authorities finally decided to introduce Biology instead of Botany and Zoology, because this was a scheme I had tried to promote for a long time, even though the educational authorities of that time were not in favour of such a change. I am glad that they realized the relevance of this at last.

Teaching of Biology as a single component was introduced in other countries about 30 years ago, but in our country there was a tug-of- war between educational experts who were for and against this scheme. The presidential task force of 1997 finally decided to opt for Biology in the midst of this controversy. This indeed was a step in the right direction.

As far back as 1976 there was a proposal to treat Biology as a subject for the now defunct HNCE examination. It was almost becoming a reality. Teachers were trained for this change, and even some text books were prepared; but the political changes that took place in 1977 paid put to all this hard work.

Everything was thrown overboard. When the educational system changes with every political change it is neither practical nor conducive for the country. It is detrimental to the welfare of the young students of the country; but sadly enough this is the trend in our country.

Biology is the study of all living things. It is not a combination of Botany and Zoology or a mixture of both, as some educationists are prone to think. The boundaries laid out for the two disciplines Botany and Zoology have long been broken down.

New disciplines like Biotechnology have now come to the forefront. In the study of physiology and Biochemistry at molecular level, it has been found that there are many factors which are common to both plants and animals.

Along with this, it is important that Ecosystems should be studied in their totality. All life forms as well as their interactions are important for any form of Biological study.

When a new subject is introduced there are many important guidelines, which must be followed. The first of these is the syllabus. In setting a syllabus one must be very clear about what targets one hopes to achieve after the study.

What do you expect a student to know? What skills do you expect a student to develop? Even though the targets set out for the new syllabus have been specified; it is clear that the syllabus itself is a hotch potch set out in haste.

On examining the syllabus, it is clear that these syllabus experts have had to run a race to meet a deadline, rather than sitting down to carefully, slowly and painstakingly mull over it through a heap of possibilities and slowly sift the material to form a wholesome, solid and cohesive course of study suitable for the Advanced Level classes.

Undoubtedly, they have taken great pains over their work; but the mountain has laboured to produce a mouse. The ultimate result is that they have picked bits and pieces from the Botany and Zoology syllabuses to from a patch work called Biology.

Organizing a new syllabus is no easy matter. It needs a lot of hard work, patience, analytical skills and vision if the outcome is to be of a high calibre. It is time consuming but that cannot be helped.

The first step would be for a panel of experts in the subject and a group of high quality, experienced teachers meeting to make the initial plans. Then the facilities available to teach the subject should be taken into consideration.

At this stage a larger group of teachers must be consulted. Their opinion and suggestions are very important because it is they who will deliver the goods, so to speak.

A study should be made of the possible difficulties that could arise when handling the subject. Lastly there must be a clear consensus about what is expected from the course of study. These are not my personal views, but the accepted standard practice of syllabus makers all over the world.

Like most other science syllabuses for the G C E (Adv. level), the biology syllabus is far too long. Considering the limited time available in schools, covering this syllabus is a virtual impossibility unless one hops and skips through the material. What with Poya days and other holidays, sports meets, cricket matches, prize givings and a day for every possible cause, literary festivals etc. the list is endless.

All this involves school time. An education is not complete without these activities no doubt; but there should be a balance between the curricular and extra - curricular activities. Thankfully the minister of education has decreed that some of these activities should be held only during week - ends or during school holidays.

Whatever is said and done I still hold the view that the science syllabuses are too long and cannot be completed satisfactorily during the limited time in schools. Therefore some of it is covered as tutorials. I am not surprised at all about the thriving private tuition classes. They stolidly march through the syllabus for they do not have to think about practical work or even feed - back in the form of tests.

Year by year numbers sitting the G. C. E. Advanced level examination increases. The aim of all these students is to get high marks and secure a place in a University. As though to counter attack these young hopefuls, the syllabuses are made longer and more difficult and examinations become increasingly tough. This is not the solution to this problem. Alternative remedies must be found and implemented soon.

The Presidential task force report of 1997 clearly states the aim of the G.C.E. (A/L) examination is not only to select students for University places, but also to find alternative training or educational programs for the greater majority of students who fail to win a place at a University.

It also clearly states that the G. C. E. (A/L) syllabus should target the larger majority, of students who fall back rather than the minority which slips through to a University, sometimes by a hair?s breadth of one mark.

Lengthening the syllabuses has gone to such an extent that some components cannot be property handled in schools. The analytical skills of Sri Lankan students are poor as a result of this rote teaching. The approach taken by teachers too should be corrected.

However good a syllabus may be it will not be effectively handled unless the teachers are given proper guidance and training. As the Presidential task force report rightly observes, high educational standards can be expected only if we have highly motivated high calibre teachers.

In schools today, the teachers who taught Botany and Zoology automatically took over the teaching of Biology. As can be expected, these teachers taught Biology in the same way they taught before. These teachers should have been re - oriented before the actual teaching commenced.

A few hours at a seminar is not enough. Practical work, the much neglected aspect of science teaching in Sri Lanka has been given its proper place in the new set up. It is vital that students should observe scientific principles at work in the laboratory to consolidate what they have been taught in the classroom. But there is a shortage of laboratory facilities in rural schools.

I once made a study of rural schools when I was working at the University of Colombo. On one such visit I came across a school with all the equipment needed for science teaching but did not have a sufficient number of science teachers, while another school in the same area had the teachers but no laboratory facilities.

Could anything be more absurd than this? Therefore if laboratory facilities cannot be provided for all schools, then the Advanced Level classes could be shifted along with their teachers to schools nearby which have such facilities so that the limited resources could be fully utilized.

Teaching science involves not only teachers and laboratories but also laboratory technicians. So far no government has undertaken the task of training these technicians. We have to be thankful that the Open University and the Institute of Chemistry have begun courses for technicians.

Even though a teacher's guide for the teaching of Biology has been produced, it is a very limited inadequate guide. To what level a topic should be explored cannot be indicated in a guide book.

The most sensible solution would be for syllabus makers themselves to write a text book for the students where they could indicate the scope of the subject to be taught. Other writers have made use of this opportunity and written text books based on the syllabus, but there is a disparity in the coverage in these books.

Both teachers and students are left high and dry, unable to decide as to what level a topic should be covered. Therefore I earnestly appeal to the syllabus makers of this country to write suitable text books as well.

After a new subject has been introduced and the students have sat the examination in that subject, the feedback should be evaluated to see whether their targets have been met.

The Biology syllabus states that the aim of the course of study is that students should not only gather knowledge but that there should be skills development, character development etc, For this purpose a series of projects have been specified.

Among these are collection and analysis of data, evaluation, report writing and comparison of reports, presentations, both oral and written of their own observations, fieldwork and research in their own small way.

They also advocate forming discussion groups and participation in projects where they inter-act with the community which would be beneficial to society at large. They are also encouraged to identify, protect and propagate medicinal herbs and other rare plants. In short, they are trained to be aware of the living world around them.

The Biology syllabus has been tried out in schools for a few years now. The time is right to make an evaluation of how much of these lofty ideals which are indeed praise worthy, have been achieved.

Even though the scope of my article is mainly based on the Biology syllabus, these observations apply to other Science subjects as well.

If the educational authorities feel that there is some truth in what is written here, I hope they would make a proper evaluation of what has been achieved and what needs to be done to make Biology the science of life meaningful.

The writer is Emeritus Professor of Botany, University of Colombo