Acute shortage of science labs in public schools seriously affects science education

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines — Only 4,060 out of 5,359 public high schools in the country have science laboratories in their campuses. Although some have equipment, these are however reduced to museum pieces — you can only see but you cannot touch, according to a director of Science Education Institute.

Dr. Filma Brawner said during the launching of the Philippine Science Centrum’s Adventures in Discovery Traveling Exhibition at the CSI Stadia here from June 28 to July 15 that due to classroom shortage, some of the science laboratories are being converted into classrooms.

“What is more appalling is the nationwide ratio of students to science laboratories which stands at 1,325 students to one laboratory,” she said. Because of this, she said high school students’ performance and interest in science is lackluster.

She said the Science Explorer which brings interactive science exhibits in many parts of the country has gone to a school with a population of 16,000 students and only one science laboratory.

She said there are even science laboratories that merely contain tables, chairs and outdated, if not dilapidated posters. It is due to these conditions that the Science Education Institute came up with a pioneering way of bringing to schools a fun yet enriching experience in science. “We share the same mantra with the Science Centrum: learning by doing. This is what our students experience in the Science Explorer,” she said.

The Science Explorer is the Philippines’ first and only mobile interactive science learning facility that features exciting hands-on learning through fun and easy science activities. The Explorer contains laboratory facilities, audio visual equipment, interactive exhibits, and various learning materials that will be helpful in facilitating learning to the students.

Dagupan City Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, through her family-owned CSI Group of Companies which she heads is hosting The Philippine Science Centrum’s Adventures in Discovery Traveling Exhibition at the CSI Stadia to upgrade the level of science education of students in the city.

This is part of her company’s corporate social responsibility as it celebrates its 25th year anniversary.

The science traveling exhibition is spearheaded by the Philippine Foundation for Science and Technology (PFST) under its flagship program the Philippine Science Centrum (PSC), together with the Department of Education (DepEd) Dagupan.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Divine Word Academy of Dagupan (DWAD) have also integrated their exhibits on different aquatic resources and robotics, respectively in the said science fair. 

The Department of Science and Technology also included its “Science Explorer: Your Ride to the Future,” a mobile interactive learning facility equipped with audio-visual and lab tools, to the traveling exhibition.

Visiting 118 cities and provinces with almost three million visitors already, the PSC, which is the first science museum-center in the country, prides itself on the impact of its interactive and traveling exhibits on students.