London

English schoolchildren will soon be grappling with the social issues surrounding topics such as the growing of genetically modified food under government plans to give 'citizenship' lessons a formal place in the school timetable.

But with no extra resources and little training for science teachers in such classroom debates, some science education experts are questioning whether the scheme will work.

From September, English schools will be required to incorporate discussions on social issues into classes. Science education experts are keen that science teachers hold discussions on topics such as genetically modified crops and nuclear power. “Citizenship education is a golden opportunity to get young people to think about science from a more informed perspective,” says Peter Finegold of the Wellcome Trust, Britain's largest medical research charity.

On 28 February, the trust, together with Britain's Association for Science Education, held a conference in London to promote the scientific aspects of the plan. Most teachers at the meeting were enthusiastic, despite worries over how the new subject would be incorporated.

But some education researchers suggested that science teachers could be less suited to promoting such discussions than colleagues who teach other subjects. Last year, a Wellcome Trust report found that most classroom discussions of biomedical issues take place in humanities lessons.

“In general, science teachers feel that they lack the skills, confidence and time to initiate classroom discussion,” says Ralph Levinson of the University of London, co-author of the Wellcome report. “And the scientific facts appear to be incidental to the teaching of these issue-based topics in the humanities.”