Doc. 7692
29 October 1996

MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION on scientific literacy

presented by Mr BEAUFAYS and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.       Over the last few decades humankind has created and benefited from a series of technologies which have transformed the world and continue to do so at overwhelming speed.

2.       The progenitor of these modern technologies is science, which thus turns to account its practical potential, derived from and interdependent with fundamental research.

3.       It is proving increasingly difficult for the public at large to cope effectively with the avalanche of scientific and technological feats, following on from one another in such rapid succession that any new invention assumes an ephemeral character. People find it hard to relate scientific, economic, social and political changes to the knowledge they have acquired from traditional education systems. Often they find themselves witnessing changes in the society to which they belong without being in a position to understand, let alone influence, them.

4.       A basic understanding of science ("scientific literacy") in the sense of a practical knowledge about science in everyday life, is as essential today as reading and writing were in the past. It is a vital prerequisite to building up a competent workforce, to the economic health of society and to the practice of participatory democracy.

5.       Accordingly, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers call on the member states of the Council of Europe:

      —to       give basic scientific culture the place it deserves today in the school and education system;—

      —to       promote the sustained development and updating of citizens' basic scientific understanding through much broader and more varied means than schooling alone.Si

Signed: 1

Beaufays, Belgium, EPP

Birraux, France, EPP

Frey, Switzerland, LDR

Külahli, Turkey, EDG

Lenzer, Germany, EPP

Lorenzi, Italy, LDR

Melcak, Czech Republic, SOC

Moser, Austria, LDR

Prokes, Slovakia, EPP

Rewaj, Poland, SOC

Roseta, Portugal, LDR

Sanz, Spain, EPP

Szalay, Hungary, LDR

Tiuri, Finland, EDG

Weyts, Belgium, PPE

Yürür, Turkey, EDG

1 1       SOC : Socialist Group

      EPP : Group of the European People's Party

      EDG : European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL : Group of the Unified European Left