Liam Burke
Ceist:92 Mr. L. Burke asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make a statement on reports indicating a further decline in interest in science subjects at third level as indicated in the 2002 CAO applications. [9217/02]
Written Answers. - School Curriculum.
The Central Applications Office has made available interim application figures for 2002. It should be noted that late applications can be received up to 1 May 2002 and that applicants can amend their preferences up to 1 July 2002.
In relation to applications for courses in the science and applied science category, the figures can be broken down between applications for diploma and certificate courses and degree courses. In absolute terms, when the interim application figures for 2002 are compared with those for 2001, they reveal a decrease from 5,097 first preferences for science-applied science degree programmes in 2001 to 4,863 first preferences in 2002, which represents a 4.6% decrease. In terms of diploma and certificate courses, the number of first preference applications for science-applied science courses increased from 3,697 in 2001 to 3,955 in 2002, which represents an increase of 7%.
In terms of the proportion of first preference applicants in all subject areas, the interim first preference application figure for diploma and certificate courses in science-applied science for 2002 stands at 8.1%, which is an increase on last year's equivalent figure of 7.2%. In relation to degree courses, the corresponding proportion for science-applied science has declined from 10% in 2001 to 9.5% in 2002. In this regard, of the first round degree offers made in science-applied science in 2001, 2,130 had first preferences in science-applied science, which implies a ratio of 2.4 first preferences to first round offers. A constant level of first round first preference degree offers for 2002 would result in a ratio of 2.3 first preferences to first round offers.
I am concerned to ensure that every effort is made to maintain participation rates in the sciences. In this context, I set up a task force on the physical sciences, under the chairmanship of Dr. Danny O'Hare, to identify the issues contributing to falling uptake of the physical sciences at second and third level and to recommend additional measures to address these issues. I expect to receive the task force's final report shortly.