A first concern in the next decade must be to reach the millions of children in primary and secondary schools in developing coutries. And women. Understanding of infectious and sexual diseases and their prevention, basic hygiene and nutrition should be priorities in any programme of biological education. The incidence of leprosy, guinea worm (dracunculiasis), Chagas’ disease, leishmaniasis, river blindness (onchocerciasis) and poliomyelitis has been greatly reduced - but these programmes have been imposed with little health education. The importance of vitamins and clean water, the harm done by injections and the fight to contain HIV transmission are also topics of vital importance.
Cheap visual aids and simple readers are needed - not expensive text books. Teachers need ideas on how to present the materials and to involve their children. Fortunately, excellent teaching aids for use by adults and schools already exist. Teaching Aids at Low Cost - better known as TALC - is a British charity which sends slide sets, teaching materials and books overseas. Most of the material is intended for doctors, nurses and other health workers, but much e.g. nutrition and malaria, is suitable for biology classes. The slide sets which are specially commissioned, contain 24 coloured slides with teaching notes which include questions (and answers) for the students. The notes are written in simple English, with suggestions of suitable audiences. A handheld viewer which uses daylight is included. All slides are horizontal and when supplied as a simple strip of film, each set typically costs only £5. Many millions of slides are in use.
A similar organisation, starting with TALC material, is needed for biology. TALC is a model for a similar biology initiative for developing countries. The International Union of Biochemical and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) has promoted the metabolic maps pioneered by Dr D.N. Nicholson, which are now available on the web and on CD-rom. These are wonderful for university level students: now we need a similar initiative which would involve groups like UNESCO, IUBS and others, so that suitable slide sets, readers etc could be commissioned and assembled in a centre. Initially this could be in a large biological department where foreign and home students could volunteer for packing and despatching the parcels of materials. Several British universities, for example, have large biology departments, close links to teacher training and former students now overseas. Societies like the Institute of Biology in the UK could provide links with biologists with experience of teaching overseas and could establish links to biology teaching overseas.
Teaching material suitable for girls and women is urgently needed. TALC has produced Child to Child readers with emphasis on the girl child and the value of educating girls. These simple readers help children to read while giving health and social advice. These readers already complement the proposals of a UNESCO study (Mulemwa, 1999). One level 3 reader is Freda doesn’t get pregnant which helps children understand the risks and effects of becoming pregnant at a young age.
Four recent titles are :
The path to peace, is about children adjusting to village life after a refugee camp.
Two girls and their dreams, shows how two girls achieve their dreams even though they challenge women’s conventional roles.
Can Betsy stay at school, yes, because she and her brother share the home workload.
To have a son like you, illustrates how boys and girls should be treated equally in the family.
Older texts such as Dirty water (level 1), Flies (level 2), and The cholera crisis (level 3) would fit easily into biology or science lessons. Other important topics for girls are nutrition and child growth - although these are of course important for boys as well.
One of the many initiatives in developing countries has been the drive for adult literacy, especially for women. My wife and I were in Kerala when the President of India came to rejoice that 100 % literacy had been achieved. Children, especially girls, had taught their mothers and grandmothers to read and write. Women also need the opportunity to learn about nutrition, birth, breastfeeding and physiology. Although education of mothers in these subjects is supposed to be their responsibility, primary health workers often use their time instead to give private consultations and injections - for fees. What better use of biological material than in adult education ?
In many parts of the world injections are the preferred method of treatment. Most, however, are unnecessary and unsterile, transmitting viruses such as HIV and hepatitis, bacteria and parasites causing leishmaniasis and malaria. They cause abscesses and , until the present campaign to eradicate poliomyelitis, provoked and aggravated paralytic poliomyelitis in hundreds of thousands of children. People have little understanding of infectious diseases and their prevention: health professionals disregard simple precautions. The giving of vitamin B by injection to pregnant women at Yambuku precipitated the outbreak of Ebola and the very high case-fatality. The giving of small quantities of blood to children caused the AIDS epidemic in homes in Roumania. The habit of ‘mainlining’ by drug addicts has spread HIV. The reuse of needles and syringes in the programmes to eradicate schistosomiasis has left Egypt with a very high rate of hepatitis. Teaching theory but ignoring known good practice has resulted in ill-health and disabilities on an immense scale.
Many other topics in biology are important - conservation and plants for example. The advantage of starting with health topics is that materials already exist or can be adapted. Much of the TALC material has been specially commissioned and provides questions and answers, notes for teachers and guides to the level of tuition. Some are intended for doctors and nurses, but could be adapted for biology teaching.
A very recent examination by CBE/IUBS of biology texts for American secondary schools concluded that they were very traditional in outlook and teaching. They are not suitable for developing countries which already copy the style and content of such books. Several writers have prepared books on teaching for use by health workers in the third world e.g. Young and Durston ( ? ) written especially for use in pre-service and in-service teacher training courses. The magnificent book with hundreds of illustrations, by Werner and Bower (1982) contains methods, aids and ideas for instructors at the village level. Both these books would be suitable for biology teachers - at all levels.
A single locus for biology aids has other important advantages. English is not the first language in many parts of the world. If books, etc are suitable, translations into French and Spanish can be arranged as with TALC. Werner’s book is available in Spanish and some Child to Child readers have been translated into Urdu. When a small comprehensive catalogue is cheaply and widely circulated in developing countries, authors and publishers will be encouraged to submit suitable books, etc for distribution. Authors will be encouraged to write for that market. One great disincentive is that buying is so costly and complicated: with one agency supplying many books and aids, provision for easy payment by credit card is possible.
To start BioTALC requires enthusiasm and little money: let us start right away. Volunteers, please.
REFERENCES
Mulema J. 1999. Scientific, technical and vocational education of girls in Africa.
Guidelines for programme planning. UNESCO Working document ED-99/WS/32.
Young B, Durston S. ? Primary health education. Longman 2nd edn.
Werner D, Bower B. 1982. Helping health workers learn. Hesparian Foundation.
Both books, by Young and Werner, are available through TALC.
Write for a free catalogue: TALC, Box 49, St Albans, AL1 5TX, England.
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This idea was first floated by Dr. Wyatt at BioEd 2000. Dr Wyatt is Honorary Research Fellow in Public Health Medicine at Leeds University and has taught in the West Bank, India, Pakistan , the US and England and has given workshops on writing in many other countries.