Editorial: The key to going beyond the edge

SCIENCE SMART: Students from Rotorua Primary School have a go with one of their new trial science kits. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Hats off to Ngati Whakaue and Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Trust for their new science-based schools project.

As I've grown older and developed a healthy interest in all things sciency, one of my greatest regrets is not studying more science at school and university.

While there's nothing wrong with arts and literature, I believe there's a huge amount to be gained from having a well-balanced education, as opposed to sticking to just a few subjects and concentrating on those.

As Te Taumata general manager Roana Bennett said: "Science is an exciting field of study and has the potential to engage kids and keep them in school for longer. All learners should have the opportunity to go on to whatever career that inspires them. The real issue is to ensure that science is a valid option for all learners."

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We are also very fortunate to live in this day and age, where science has given us the internet and opened up the world to more scrutiny and healthy scepticism than at any time in the past.

It's essential in this technology-driven world to have a good knowledge of science and the scientific method.

Just because a person does not understand how something works, such as evolution or electromagnetism, it is not appropriate or fair to children to explain it as a "miracle" or an "act of God", as was so often the case in the past.

The answers to all of the burning questions of the modern age can be answered by science - climate change, species extinction, food shortages and disease. Newer technologies, such as robotics and genetic engineering, will need new minds to accomplish what was thought impossible by past generations, and the key to that is unlocking the minds of our children and giving them the best possible education we can.

The world of science is a wondrous place, and it saddens me that many people revere sports and movie stars or the rich and famous more than they do scientists, educators, artists and authors, who make our lives better in so many ways.