"Depressing reading" was how one ASTI delegate described the union's latest survey on resources for Junior Cert science.
It was released to conference in Ennis yesterday and revealed that despite a new syllabus emphasising practical lab work including running experiments, old labs were still in operation in three out of four schools.
As a result, these schools are not in a position to fully implement the new syllabus, due to be examined in eight weeks.
"This is like the AnCO days when receptionists were trained to use the phone using bananas," said delegate Liam O'Mahony of Dungarvan.
"Noel Dempsey railroaded this syllabus past the union and got away scot-free with the implementation of resources."
Only a quarter of Irish secondary schools are adequately equipped to teach science, and only one in 10 Junior Certificate science teachers is trained in the safe execution of science experiments, according to the ASTI.
In a survey of 331 post-primary schools it was also revealed that 58 per cent of teachers blame poor resources for Junior Cert science for the low uptake of science subjects for the Leaving.
The new Junior Certificate syllabus has been dumbed down, according to one delegate.
"The new syllabus is content poor. It lowers the standards and is in no way useful for Leaving Certificate physics, biology and chemistry."
Significantly, the survey found that the new science syllabus had serious health and safety implications for both teachers and students.
The majority of science teachers (89 per cent) had not been provided with health and safety training since the new syllabus, which involves a number of "potentially dangerous mandatory experiments".
"This is a burning issue for science teachers," said delegate Lilly Cronin, who suggested that science teachers were working harder than any others to prepare labs and set up experiments for pupils outside class hours.
An overwhelming 91 per cent of teachers surveyed felt they needed laboratory technicians to assist them in the science laboratories.
This was also a key recommendation made by the Task Force on Physical Sciences. Only 7 per cent of schools surveyed had a laboratory technician.
When asked about the low take up of science subjects at Leaving Certificate level, nine out of 10 teachers said it was perceived by students as "too hard".
More than half of all teachers surveyed cited lack of guidance counselling at Junior Certificate where students were unaware of career options in science.
Almost half of all teachers said that science laboratories were too old and could not accommodate practical work and Junior Certificate science classes were too big.
Paddy Pender of Dublin south said that resources for teaching practical science where better in Uganda, where he taught over 30 years ago.
Commenting on the results of the survey, ASTI general secretary John White said: "Second level science is crucial to the development of Ireland as a knowledge-based society. Science education is also central to a holistic education.
"However, the Government is limiting the future career chances of Irish students by failing to provide essential resources needed for its delivery," concluded Mr White.