Wellcome Trust calls on science teachers to play an active role in citizenship curriculum

26 February 2002

The Wellcome Trust called on science teachers to play a key role in the citizenship curriculum today (26 February 2002) at Science and Citizenship, a meeting in London of more than 400 teachers involved in teaching citizenship, organised by the Wellcome Trust and the Association for Science Education.

Dr Michael Dexter, Director of the Wellcome Trust said: "How will today's children cope when they are parents, with a dilemma such as that being faced by the Hashmi family, whose son is affected with a life-threatening disease? In a week where 'designer babies' have been headline news it is appropriate that the Welcome Trust is urging science teachers to address these issues in the classroom as part of the citizenship curriculum.

"The 'genome generation' - the children in our classrooms now - will face unprecedented moral dilemmas and genetic choices. The technology already exists to screen for inherited conditions such as deafness which presents us with a number of moral questions. We need to work together to explore these fundamental issues."

The conference was organised to coincide with the web publication of two 'citizenship and science' Units on the DfES Standards website, together with the launch of teaching resources produced by the Wellcome Trust and the ASE, which aim to equip teachers with the information they need to address science issues as part of citizenship. The teaching of Citizenship in schools in England will be compulsory from September 2002.

Media Contacts:

Melanie Smallman
Tel: 07957 280349

Shaun Griffin
Wellcome Trust Media Office
Tel: 0207 611 8612; Email: s.griffin@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

• The schemes of work mentioned are available at:
www.dfes.gov.uk/ or www.teachernet.gov.uk/

• The Wellcome Trust runs many innovative activities for teachers and students, and offers a number of teaching resources that range from theatre productions addressing key issues in medicine to schemes placing PhD students in schools. These teaching resources help teachers stay up to date with the latest research in biomedical science, and generate discussion about its impact on society.

• Thursday's conference will be chaired by Lord Jenkin, 2002 President of the ASE. Baroness Ashton, Schools Minister, will open the conference and keynote speakers will be Sir Bernard Crick, Tim Radford and Sir Joseph Rotblat. Further information on the conference us available in the attached file.

• A limited number of places are available at the conference. For further information contact Claire Griffiths at the Wellcome Trust.
Tel: 020 7611 8777; E-mail: c.griffiths@wellcome.ac.uk

• The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-funding charity, established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome in 1936. It is funded from a private endowment which is managed with long-term stability and growth in mind. The Trust's mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health.

• The Association for Science Education is the professional association for teachers of science, laboratory technicians, advisers, lecturers in universities, industrialists and others contributing to science education. It supports teachers in their delivery of the National Curriculum from primary to Post-16 education and in their own professional development. The Association's principal aim is to support and develop quality in science education through the exchange and development of best practice.