WHEN it comes to science eduction, Scottish pupils are getting a raw deal.

That's according to a new report from the Learned Societies' Group on Scottish Science Education, who say nearly half of primary schools have no access to safety equipment, the majority of secondaries lack the instruments to deliver practical work effectively and 8 in 10 school don't expect the situation to improve over the next two years.

Just as troublingly, 98% of secondaries admitted to asking parents or teachers to help fund experiments, and 44% said that they were not satisfied with the level of technician support.

Taking all this into account, the Learned Societies' Group concluded that "science resourcing levels are not sufficient to fully and effectively meet the requirements of the curriculum".

This is unacceptable. Science, technology, engineering and maths, the so-called STEM subjects, are of vital importance to Scotland's long term economic prosperity.

But when a pupil lacks the basic materials for practical work, they are learning with one hand tied behind their back.

Typically, the Scottish Government is seeking to pass the buck and place blame squarely on local authorities, but this, I'm afraid, just doesn't cut it.

Councils are being asked to do more with less, and everyone knows it.

Appearing before the Parliament's Education Committee last week, John Stodter, of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, explained that "not a single budget in the education service is not being considered somewhere for potential reduction".

So we have a situation where the average spend on science per secondary pupil in Scotland is £7.33 compared to £10.12 south of the border.

And this comes at a time when our performance in science is already slipping relative to our peers. Every three years the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assesses how various countries are performing in maths, English and science. The latest survey, in 2012, found that we had dropped back slightly in science compared to 2009 and 2006.

But as we stagnate, others pull ahead. Poland used to score worse than Scotland, but is now 13 points ahead. Australia, Germany, Korea - countries we used to match, now score significantly higher.

This puts our young people at a comparative disadvantage.

Already, business groups such as the CBI have called on the Scottish Government to expand STEM programmes in schools and, while the Education Secretary seems to recognise their importance, warm words count for little when on the front line 80% of secondaries say they are dissatisfied with funding for practical work.

When it comes to the sciences, Scotland has a long, proud and distinguished history.

To preserve this, the Scottish Government must ensure that all our schools are properly resourced.

It's hardly rocket science, but a failure to act risks selling Scotland's pupils short.