The IAP Science Education Programme was launched in 2003. Its main focus is the promotion of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) - or "learning by doing" - especially for primary-school-aged children. It is also focused on improving science literacy among the general population.

IAP SEP Global Council 2019-2022 

Lead Academy: Hassan II of Science and Technology

Chair of the Global Council: Wafa Skalli

Members:

Carol O’ Donnell (USA)
Manzoor H. Soomro (Pakistan)
Aphiya Hathayatham (Thailand)
R. Indarjani (Indonesia)
Carlos Bosch (Mexico)
Lena Kjellén (Sweden)
Daniel Rouan (France)
Lazzat Kussainova (Kazakstan)
Hounkonnou M. N. (Benin)
Jiang Jingyi (China)
Edgar Gonzalez (Colombia) 

Ex-Officio Members:

Executive Directors of the 4 IAP Regional Networks (NASAC: Jackie Kado; AASSA: Yoo Hang Kim; IANAS: Viviana Caroza; EASAC: Mathis Johanssen)
Immediate Past SEP Global Council Chair: Mustafa El Tayeb
Representative of Lead Academy: Malik Ghallab
Mario Stefanini (Italy - IAP for health)
Global Young Academy Co-Chair:  Connie Nshemereiwe (Uganda)
Mario Stefanini  (Italy – IAP for Health)

SEP Secretary: Peter McGrath (IAP)

International Advisory Board :

Bruce Alberts (USA)
Yves Quere (France)
Wynne Harlen (UK)
Jorge Allende (Chile)
Daya Reddy (South Africa)
Ahmadou Wague (Senegal)
Zhe He (China)
Petra Skiebe-Corrette (Germany)
Pierre Lena (France)
Guillermo Fernandez (Mexico)
Orakanoke Phanraksa (Thailand)
Norma Nudelman (Argentina)
Sharifah Maimunah (Malaysia)
Wang Xiaoming (China)

Established by Jorge Allende (Chile) in 2003, the IAP Science Education Programme achieved a remarkable set of actions in 2003-2008, as well throughout the period 2009-2010. Pierre Lena (Académie des sciences, France) was Chair of the Global Council from 2010-2013.

News in 2019:

The latest CESAME teacher-training workshop took place at Tunis, Tunisia, on 21-25 January, hosted by ESPRIT.

News in 2018:

Several planning and drafting workshops to develop a 'Fusion of Civilisations' science curriculum for primary school children along the Belt and Road countries have been held. The curriculum that has been developed, that highlights the contributions to scientific thought of different societies and civilisations, will be trialled in a few countries during 2019 and published after incorporating feedback from this piloting process.

An outcome of the third Africa-Mediterranean-European Academies for Science Education conference (AEMASE III) held in Paris in October 2017 was the agreement to work towards establishing ‘Centres for Education in Science in the Africa-Mediterranean-European’ region (CESAME). During 2018, CESAME teacher training workshops were held in Benin and Italy (at ICTP, Trieste). The long-term aim is to move from occasional training workshops to permanent centres for science education.

The IAP Statement on ‘Climate Change and Education’ (led by the Academie des sciences, France) was released at the ‘One Planet Summit’ in Paris, France, in December 2017, held under the auspices of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. As a follow-up, the Office for Climate Education (OCE) was founded in March 2018 by La main à la pâte (LAMAP). Following brainstorming meeting at UNESCO, Paris, in December 2018, discussions are ongoing for consideration of OCE as a UNESCO Category 2 centre.

The Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), supported by the IAP Science Education programme, released the first module of a community research guide: Mosquito!. For more information, follow the link HERE.

A series of science education meetings in April in Pakistan have concluded with the Islamabad Declaration. More information to the events and the Islamabad Declaration is availabale HERE.

As part of the 10th Anniversary of the International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation under the Auspices of UNESCO (ISTIC), a ‘High-Level Conference on Climate Change Education’ took place on 7-9 May 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, supported by IAP.

Forum on ‘Promoting Science Literacy through National Museums of ASEAN Countries’, 16-26 August 2018, hosted by IAP SEP Global Council member, the National Science Museum of Thailand.

News in 2017:

IAP was represented at the first 'International Dialogue on STEM' by Petra Skiebe-Corrette, member of the IAP SEP Global Council, and Peter McGrath, IAP coordinator. The meeting, hosted by the Siemens Stiftung and the Haus der kleiner Forschner Foundation, was held in Berlin on 2-3 November. Among the keynote speakers were Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General, OECD, who spoke on ‘Future Trends in Education: 21st Century Skills’, and Auma Obama, founder and director, Sauti Kuu Foundation, Kenya, who spoke on ‘What Skills and Abilities Do Children Need for a Worthwhile Future?’. More details of the event are available HERE.

Representatives of the IAP Science Education Programme participated in the AEMASE III conference in Paris, 3-4 October 2017.

IAP Coordinator, Peter McGrath, and member of the IAP Science Education Programme’s Global Council has participated in a workshop in Erice, Sicily, Italy, on 1-7 September 2017, which was organised by La Main à la Pâte – a French foundation committed to promoting inquiry-based science education. This workshop concluded with the release of a ‘Concluding Statement: Climate Change: A Challenge for Science Education’.

The IAP SEP will support the 'Belt and Road' Teenager Maker Camp & Teacher Workshop which will be held 17-22 December 2017 in Beijing, China. Jointly hosted by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China and China Association for Science and Technology, it is aimed to strengthen communication and cooperation between China and countries along the belt and road, and also inspire innovation in young generation in this region.

ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF), Children’s Science Instructors (CACSI), Children and Youth Science Center of CAST (CYSCC), Chinese Society for the History of Science and Technology (CSHST) and Inter Academy Partnership – Science Education Programme (IAP-SEP) jointly organised the 2017 International Forum on Science Education in Beijing, China on 2-5 July 2017.

The latest newsletter of the ECO Science Foundation, which represents 10 countries in the west/central Asia region, refers to several IAP Science Education Programme activities, including the 1st national workshop on IBSE in Iran for “Professional Development Programme on Inquiry Based Science Education” organized at Isfahan (see page 3).

The IAP Science Education Progamme (SEP) convened a series of meetings in Khartoum, Sudan (5-9 February 2017).

IAP for Health joins the IAP Science Education Programme in Khartoum, Sudan. For more information, follow the link HERE.

IAP announces a collaboration with the Smithsonian Science Education Centre to develop a school curriculum to teach children against the dangers of mosquito-transmitted diseases. For a full report, see HERE.

News in 2016:

The ECO Science Foundation, which represents 10 countries in the west/central Asia region, also promotes inquiry-based science education (IBSE) through workshops and other events. A report of its 2016 activities is available HERE.

The IAP SEP was invited to participate in a special session on 'Risk Communication on Public Issue: Mosquito-borne diseases - a case study' at the recent National Science and Technology Fair in Thailand. For a full report, see HERE.

The IAP biennial science education conference took place on 14-15 April. The international conference focused on 'Improving the Learning of Biology and Related Sciences at the Pre-University Level', and was hosted at the University of Chile in the country’s capital city, Santiago. For a full report, see HERE.

On 5 April 2016, the International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) hosted a forum at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on ‘Embracing the Future: Improving the quality of science instruction in schools’. For a full report, see HERE.

News in 2015:

On 13-15 November 2015, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences hosted a workshop on Children and Sustainable Development: A Challenge for Education. Among the invitees was Dato Lee Yee Cheong, chair of the IAP Science Education Programme (SEP) Global Council. His presentation, which focused on the 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals, can be downloaded HERE.

In May this year, a series of scientific events were hosted in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. At the core was the meeting of the Science Advisory Board to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, chaired by Jörg Hacker of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina, and Abdul Hamid Zakri, science adviser to the Malaysian Prime Minister, and organized by UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova.

In parallel, IAP joined with ISTIC [www.istic-unesco.org], the Malaysian Academy of Sciences, and Malaysian government agencies to organize the International Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) High Level Policy Forum on ‘Evidence Based Science Education in Developing Countries’. The forum, which took place on 26-27 May, was attended by some 160 people from 19 countries. Among them was IAP co-chair, Mohamed Hassan, who gave the opening address.

The IAP Science Education Programme (SEP) Global Council also met on 26 May in Kuala Lumpur. For a detailed report of the events, follow the link HERE.

Follow the link HERE for the presentations which took place at the International STEM High Level Policy Forum on Evidence-Based Science Education in Developing Countries (26- 27 May 2015).

An album of images of the events which took place in Kuala Lumpur, including a visit to a local primary school, are available in the box below.

Follow the link HERE for an overview of activities implemented in 2014, 2013 and in previous years, for more links, products and articles.