Indore: ‘Scientist as career option no more interests kids’

Indore: Scientists are like our everyday newspaper readers with an inclination towards news carried on pages like Etcetera of Free Press and sports pages, said Raja Ramanna Centra for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) director Dr Prasad A Naik, who was Guest Editor of Free Press on Tuesday.

On a personal note, he said news carried on business page did not interest him much. “Every morning, I browse through all newspaper headlines before leaving for tennis practice and return to pick up Free Press to go through the news for the day,” Dr Naik said.

Chatting about the change needed to promote science, Dr Naik said, “The number of students opting for bachelors in science is decreasing every year, and it is resulting in dearth of scientists in our country.” He added that only students who are unable to crack engineering entrances are opting for bachelors in science. “The prime cause for such a deviation is parent’s mind-set and overall trend in society,” Naik said.

He explained that parents are promoting and often forcing children to pursue engineering and medical sciences only. “Every engineer even from an average college can get a job after graduation, whereas other disciplines require post doctoral degrees for a job,” Dr Naik said.

When it comes to promoting career as scientists then it requires change in parent’s mind-set. “Parents need to consider their child’s interest, contribution to country’s development and overall success of their child rather than quick monetary gains,” Dr Naik said. Contd. on P10

Talking about the trend, Naik said, “About 30 years ago, girls generally opted for BSc but now even they are taking up engineering simply because it provides jobs sooner.” Browsing through the news list for the day and highlighting his choice of news to be carried on the front page and other sections of the newspaper, he also went on to explain the reason behind his choice of certain news reports.

Selecting the news about security issues in digitization and safety measures, he explained, “Like credit card, where we have to give our pin number as security, the concept of virtual IDs is the next step for digital payment security.” He said that such news about latest safety measures being used must be known to every reader.

“However, we need it to be explained in layman’s terms like every news about science,” Dr Naik said. Dr Naik visited the various sections of Free Press and interacted with editorial and technical staff members He took a keen interest in the technical aspects of printing of the newspaper and sought answers about technicalities of elements used in the process.