I read with interest your column Frank Lee Speaking in last week's Sunday Tribune and can only agree wholeheartedly with the points raised by the author.

And I can also echo his assumption. Until I became the director general of Engineers Ireland two years ago, I too had presumed that science was compulsory at Junior Cert level. The fact that it is not is ridiculous for many reasons. Firstly, we are doing a huge disservice, which most likely can never be undone, to students of that age by essentially depriving them of options in a broad range of careers in technical and other fields, eg engineering, research, science, medicine, dentistry etc. Students who don't take science at Junior Cert almost exclusively opt out of science-related subjects for their Leaving Cert. Secondly, children are still naturally curious at Junior Cert age and the study of science can help answer some of the questions that might cross their minds.

And perhaps most importantly to Engineers Ireland, as the organisation charged with attracting young people into the engineering profession – a profession that is key to driving the smart economy and fulfilling this government's innovation agenda – we face annual difficulties as more and more children opt not to study science at Junior Cert thus ruling themselves out of numerous engineering career paths before they've even considered their options.

The opportunity for Brian Cowen and his ministers Mary Coughlan and Batt O'Keeffe to right the wrongs of their predecessors is there for the taking. By introducing science as a compulsory subject at Junior Cert, they would go some way to creating a culture for future generations of Irish people that encourages creative thinking and innovation. It may not get us out of the current downturn but it would create the foundation for building on the next economic upturn for the generations to come.

John Power,

Director General,

Engineers Ireland.