While sitting at the dining table recently, I was watching Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. In one memorable scene, Cooper reflects on humanity’s determination to confront extraordinary challenges: “We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible.”
The statement captures the spirit of scientific progress. Humanity has confronted disease, hunger, environmental threats and technological limitations through observation, experimentation and the application of knowledge. Such a scientific outlook does not suddenly emerge at university level. Its foundations are laid much earlier, in school classrooms, where children first learn to observe, question, investigate and reason.
Pakistan, however, continues to face serious challenges in literacy, school participation and learning outcomes. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25, the national literacy rate stands at approximately 65.65 per cent, while Sindh’s literacy rate is about 67.54 per cent. These figures underline the need for sustained investment not only in access to education but also in the quality of classroom instruction
Virtual laboratories may support teaching, especially in schools where facilities are still developing, but watching an experiment on a screen is different from handling equipment, recording results and learning from failure.
Against this background, the Sindh government’s recent induction of 8,636 Junior Science Teachers is an important, timely and highly encouraging initiative. For years, many government schools have faced shortages of teachers with specialised knowledge of physics, chemistry and biology. The recruitment of dedicated science teachers can help address this gap, strengthen conceptual learning and give science the attention it deserves at the school level.
For many years, science in a number of schools has been taught by general teachers responsible for several subjects. Many of them have worked with dedication under difficult circumstances and with limited resources. Their contribution should be acknowledged. Nevertheless, science requires specialised knowledge and a teaching method based on observation, questioning, experimentation, evidence and logical reasoning.
The recruitment of Junior Science Teachers should therefore be recognised as a significant step towards moving public education away from rote memorisation and towards competency-based learning. However, teacher recruitment should be viewed as the beginning of reform rather than its completion.
The Sindh government should therefore complement teacher recruitment with a phased programme for establishing functional science laboratories or basic science rooms. Not every school initially requires an expensive laboratory. Schools can begin with microscopes, magnets, electrical kits, measuring instruments, models, glassware, low-risk chemicals and essential safety equipment.
Low-cost science kits and locally available materials can support experiments involving filtration, evaporation, air pressure, plant growth, magnetism and simple electrical circuits. These modest arrangements can make science more practical while permanent facilities are gradually developed.
The experience of neighbouring and regional countries provides useful lessons for Sindh. India, for example, has developed official science laboratory manuals through the National Council of Educational Research and Training for different stages of schooling. The material covers activities and experiments for primary classes, middle school, Classes IX and X, as well as physics, chemistry and biology at the senior-secondary level. It includes experiments, project work, laboratory rules and practical activities connected with topics taught in textbooks.
India’s National Education Policy 2020 also promotes learner-centred, multidisciplinary and experiential education rather than dependence on rote memorisation alone. Its implementation framework emphasises flexible learning, innovation, practical application and the use of technology in education.
India still faces inequalities between schools, and not every institution possesses the same facilities. Nevertheless, its approach offers an important lesson: practical activities should be formally connected with the curriculum and should not depend entirely on the personal initiative of an individual teacher.
Sri Lanka provides another relevant regional example. Official education planning documents have called for adequate science laboratories together with practical and informal learning facilities. The country has also supported the preparation of low-cost scientific equipment within schools so that practical teaching can continue where sophisticated resources are unavailable.
Sri Lankan education programmes have also connected science, mathematics and information technology with school laboratories, technical education and extracurricular innovation. Its science and engineering fairs have encouraged students to develop innovations and participate in competitions.
These examples should not be copied mechanically, nor should it be assumed that other countries have solved all their educational problems. The central lesson is that science teachers, laboratories, practical manuals, teacher development and student exhibitions must operate together. Recruiting teachers without equipping schools limits their effectiveness; constructing laboratories without trained teachers can result in rooms and equipment remaining unused.
Sindh has already taken another commendable step by promoting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) through school competitions and exhibitions. These activities help move learning beyond textbooks and conventional examinations.
By May 31, 2025, more than 2,400 schools across all 30 districts had registered for the Sindh STEAM School Journey programme, representing approximately half of the province’s post-primary schools.
Such projects connect education with the realities of Sindh, including water scarcity, flooding, climate change, agriculture, renewable energy, public health and waste management. They also develop teamwork, communication and confidence because students must explain their ideas and respond to questions from teachers, judges, parents and community members.
The recruitment of Junior Science Teachers and the organisation of STEAM exhibitions should now be connected as parts of a single provincial strategy. Every newly appointed science teacher could be encouraged to establish a science or STEAM club, mentor students throughout the year and help them prepare projects for district and provincial exhibitions.
In this way, exhibitions would not remain one-day ceremonial events. They would become the outcome of scientific learning taking place in classrooms and laboratories throughout the academic year.
Teacher training will be equally important. Academic qualifications alone do not automatically produce effective classroom teaching. Newly appointed teachers should receive structured induction training in modern pedagogy, inquiry-based learning, laboratory safety, student assessment, digital education and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Science education must also prepare children for the digital and AI era. Today’s students are growing up in a world shaped by algorithms, robotics, automation, data science and generative artificial intelligence. Schools cannot prepare them for this future through memorisation alone.
At school level, AI education does not require every child to study advanced programming. It should begin with digital literacy: understanding how computers process information, how algorithms influence online content and how to distinguish reliable information from misinformation.
Students should learn that AI can assist research, translation, data analysis and problem-solving, but it can also produce inaccurate information, reinforce bias and be misused for cheating. Properly trained science teachers can introduce age-appropriate coding, robotics, digital simulations and responsible use of AI tools.
Digital tools, however, cannot replace physical scientific experience. Virtual laboratories may support teaching, especially in schools where facilities are still developing, but watching an experiment on a screen is different from handling equipment, recording results and learning from failure.
Equitable implementation will be another major challenge. Qualified teachers and resources should not remain concentrated in Karachi, Hyderabad and other urban centres. Rural and underserved schools must receive a fair share of science teachers, laboratories, digital facilities and STEAM opportunities.
The induction of 8,636 Junior Science Teachers is undoubtedly an excellent and forward-looking initiative. The Sindh government also deserves recognition for encouraging STEAM exhibitions and practical learning.
The next task is to connect these reforms into one coherent system: specialised teachers leading active classrooms, laboratories supporting experiments, professional training improving teaching, digital tools expanding understanding and STEAM exhibitions celebrating creativity.
Only then will these initiatives move beyond official statistics and occasional events. They will create classrooms where children learn not merely to remember scientific facts, but to investigate, invent and solve problems.
That would be the initiative’s most meaningful achievement: preparing Sindh’s children not only to pass examinations, but to participate confidently in the scientific, digital and AI-driven world of the future.
The writer works at College Education Department, Government of Sindh.