Conservation Comment: Science teacher deficit alarm

Rob Butcher

By Rob Butcher

I AM alarmed by the number of "Opinion" correspondents who attack science as "mumbo jumbo" and claim that science threatens religious belief.

Pope John Paul 11 was very concerned that modern science was treated with respect. He even got the Catholic Church to apologise for its treatment of Galileo. In 1984 Pope John Paul 11 said "science can purify religion from error and superstition".

I am also alarmed that a recent article on local school staffing, reports that qualified science teachers are not available and schools may have to change to subjects like "hospitality" as a result.

The keystone of conservation of our environment and our healthy ecology is conditional on our education system teaching the latest scientific discoveries. So many recent findings in evolution, genetics and quantum biology are threatening even so-called modern technology with better ways of doing things.

Sub-atomic particle science discoveries, for instance, coupled with our Kiwi ingenuity could produce new ways that we power cars and even household power.

Now is not the time to be dropping science from our curriculum.

Politicians are rarely qualified in science subjects, which reflects in their "economic" views and casual approach to science education. Their buzz word is "creative accounting," which has a religious sense and provides them with a very lucrative hierarchy of career rewards but very few of their economic endeavours end successfully.

I am thinking of the Pike River Mine tragedy and aftermath, the Christchurch earthquake aftermath, choosing a new flag and so many more failures, just in our present Government's history. Earlier governments were no better, and many disasters have been averted by protest action and intervention by judicial settlements based on scientific reports.

Chris Cresswell, our late departed hero, summed up how real success works in one of his Chronicle columns.

He said that we can each put in our random best effort so that the right person can come along and put in their vital piece to make the project an overwhelming success. Maybe this isn't word for word how he said it, but is how I remembered it as so profound.

As a doctor, of course, Chris was a scientist and understood how natural law is the only way that any project can succeed.

For a real success story, think of birth. A seed is fertilised, tiny cells start multiplying and sub-atomic particles of matter even play a part. In a space where there was nothing, we have a wonderful world with forests, animals and people.

And it happened without a politician or a blueprint or a CEO in sight.

�Rob Butcher is a conservationist, retired engineer and beekeeper.