Wairarapa girls keen on science

POPULAR: A free science workshop has been "vastly oversubscribed" by girls.PHOTO/FILE

A flood of prospective women scientists has overwhelmed a free science workshop for girls that runs at Solway College on Monday.

The SOL-SCI science workshop offered places for 40 students and was "vastly oversubscribed" by primary and intermediate schools throughout the region, said Solway College head of science Rozleen Chand.

Ms Chand believed the popularity of the programme was a response to a perceived lack of interest from girls in taking up the subject as a career. She said the workshop would be extended to two days next year.

"As a girls' college we would like to encourage more girls to become excited about and involved in science," she said.

"The workshops will give girls a fun and engaging introduction to the subject. Girls traditionally shy away from the sciences, but in the last few years at Solway we have seen a number of our leading students take up science at a tertiary level. We believe we are getting it right."

Former Solway College dux Katherine Murray was New Zealand's top scholar in the 2012 NZQA Scholarship Science Examination and after leaving the Masterton school was awarded a Massey University Vice-Chancellor's Academic Excellence Scholarship and a NZ Pharmaceuticals Massey University chemistry bursary.

While Ms Murray was studying in Year 13, she completed an extramural paper on cell biology at Massey University in which she achieved the top mark of 96.7 per cent in the term test, which was the highest mark of all extramural students, and the top mark of 92.7 per cent in her assignments. She is currently studying biology and chemistry at Massey University.

Several former Solway College science students would be returning to the college next week to assist with the programme: 2013 dux Alex Sinclair, who is in her first year studying veterinary science at Massey University; Victoria University student Kelsi Taplin; Rose Collis, who is studying second-year microbiology, and Sarah Whiteman studying agricultural science, both at Massey University.

Ms Chand said the former students would also be joined by the principal's son, William Rogerson, who was dux at Wairarapa College last year, and is now studying biomedical engineering at Auckland University.

"It's both encouraging and motivating to see our students pursuing science-related subjects. It's the way forward for New Zealand, particularly in careers involving biotechnology, agriculture and medical research."