Ajmer: Just 3.6 per cent of talented students opt for science after school as other disciplines offer more in terms of material gains, a survey conducted by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) says.
"Most talented students prefer not to opt for science and become scientists after 10+2 as they find other professions offering more," noted nuclear scientist S K Sikka, with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre said, quoting the INSA 'India Science Report'.
He said a survey in 2004 of 100 talented students of 10+2 level found 24.1 per cent wanted to become teachers, 23 per cent engineers, 19.7 per cent doctors, 7.8 per cent lawyers, 3.6 per cent scientists, 2.2 per cent bureaucrats, 1.9 per cent technocrats, 1.7 per cent politicians and 16 per cent opted for other professions.
Sikka, who is the Scientific Secretary at the office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister, was delivering the keynote address at a two-day international workshop at Government College on Friday.
Referring to the Human Development Indicator of the World Bank-2003, he said only 157 out of every million people in India opt for becoming scientists as compared to 545 in China, 5,095 in Japan, 2,319 in South Korea, 2,666 in Britain and 4,095 in the US, he said.
Longer time needed for making a mark in the career, lower starting salaries, inadequate exposure to research at the undergraduate level and absence of brand institutions for science in undergraduate studies were some of the reasons for science taking a back seat with the students, Sikka said.
Offering solutions, he said: "Science at the school level should focus more on practical than theory, the course content should be simplified, science education should be made more affordable and the admission process eased a bit."
A comparison of starting salaries mentioned in the INSA report stated that those with B Tech/M Tech earned Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000 per month, IIT/IIM graduates drew Rs 70,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per month while those in MNC’s and Research and Development
made around Rs 60,000.
The report said those who had completed their PhD’s earned Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 while government servants like IAS officers got starting salaries of Rs 20,000.
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