Abstract:
The Biological Science (Bio Science) stream had
remained very popular and competitive among
the subject streams offered at the General
Certificate of Education, Advanced Level, as it
paves the way for admission to some of the prestigious
faculties in the universities. There was a
clear swing towards the Science streams during
the period following the 1972 curricular reforms,
through which Science and Maths came to be
taught in all secondary schools that had grades
up to G.C.E., OL. However the trend has changed
in recent years with student numbers enrolling
for Science decreasing by about 16 per cent
between years 1986 and 1996. This swing away
from Science had been partly attributed to the
highly selective and restrictive admission policies
followed by the faculties concerned in the universities,
amidst an increasing demand for places.
The objective of this paper, therefore, is to analyse
the trends prevailing in the Bio Science stream
during the period, 1990 to 2000. It was revealed
from the study that the number eligible for
admission to universities had increased during the
period concerned. However, the percentage
admitted had remained low despite variations
from year to year. All relevant faculties - Medicine,
Science, Agriculture, Veterinary Science and
Dental have followed very restrictive admission
policies and the percentage of admissions had
remained constant despite increasing pressure
during the relevant period. It was also revealed
that nearly 75 per cent of eligible candidates have
been annually shut off from universities. Even
though a large number of females qualify for
admission, the probability of a female being
admitted remains at 0.23.The question at stake is whether faculties will democratize their admission to a certain extent
or remain exclusive amidst the current growing
demand.
