The 3rd AASA-FASAS Joint Workshop on Science and Education in Asia and Pacific
  Date: October 10, 2009
  Venue: Dhaka, Bangladesh
  Host: Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS)

The 3rd AASA-FASAS Joint Workshop on SciEd in Asia and Pacific was held on 10 Oct. 2009 in Dhaka Bangladesh. The Workshop was co-organized by the Federation of Asian Scientific Academies and Societies (FASAS), the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia (AASA), and the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS), and sponsored by the InterAcademy Panel (IAP), AASA, FASAS, and BAS.

The workshop was organized as a follow-up from the 2nd AASA-FASAS Joint Workshop on Science Education in Asia and the Pacific held in Ankara, Turkey in October, 2008. The workshop was organized as part of the initiative by FASAS and AASA to provide opportunity to their members to share experiences on science education practices in the region. The workshop was attended by about 300 participants from FASAS and AASA member organizations as well as local participants.

Objectives of the Conference
The objectives of the workshop were:
i. to promote participation and collaboration among national science academies and societies in the Asia Pacific region on science education activities;
ii. to generate regional program on science education in Asia and the Pacific region jointly organized by AASA and FASAS which can collaborate with other similar programs in the Americas, Africa and Europe and with global initiatives that IAP Program is undertaking;

Programme
The one-day workshop was divided into four sessions namely:
Session I : Inauguration
Session II: Status of Science Education – Country Reports
Session III: Promotion of Science Education
Session IV: Indigenous Science Equipment: Exhibition and Discussion
Session V: Workshop Recommendations

During the inauguration session, both FASAS and AASA Presidents delivered their welcome speeches. Prof. Dr. M. Shamsher Ali, the President of Bangladesh Academy of Science gave a plenary lecture entitled “Ways and Means of Increasing Interests in Science Education in Asia.”

In session II, 10 speakers from FASAS and AASA member organizations presented a country reports on status of science education in their countries including from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Korea, Malaysia, Iran, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and Thailand. The following session on Promotion of Science Education was covered with four presentations by speakers from FASAS and AASA members. Programme of the conference is attached.

The final session was focused on conference recommendations and follow-up actions. The action plans recommended from the conference include:
1. To adopt immediately a teacher-training programme for science teacher who could fire the imagination of children in enquiry based science education. The teachers could use very simple facts of life to make their teaching interesting and innovative. They could also learn a lot from nature.
2. Efforts should be launched by member Academies of AASA and FASAS to construct indigenous equipment to overcome the problem of lack of equipment in schools in rural areas in Asia.
3. ICT-based methods should be used to communicate pedagogical meetings among the teachers of member countries.
4. AASA and FASAS could encourage the member countries to prevail on their governments to create a knowledge-network TV channel to promote science education as well as the public understanding of science.
5. The Science Academies in different countries should monitor regularly curricula at the school and college level and give their suggestions to the authorities for necessary improvement.
6. AASA and FASAS should hold joint workshop and monitor the implementation of the recommendations.
7. Science Academies should exchange among themselves materials prepared for science education.

Attachment
1. Program of the 3rd AASA-FASAS Joint Workshop on Science Education in Asia and Pacific
2. Recommendation of the 3rd AASA-FASAS Joint Workshop on Science Education in Asia and Pacific