Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are seen as key drivers for Scotland's future.

Underpinning the notion of the 'knowledge economy', the so-called Stem subjects are a priority for Scottish Government ministers, who want to see more pupils taking them up.

But from primary school right up to university education, teaching science is more costly to do than other types of lesson.

An element of practical work is vital to help learners engage with the subject and that needs materials, and equipment. If that teaching is underfunded, it becomes difficult to do.

The Scottish Parliament's Education Committee is currently considering the resourcing of science education, its inquiry triggered by a report last November from Scotland's Learned Societies Group on Education, This group, whose membership includes the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics and the Society of Biology, examined the funding of science in Scottish primary and secondary schools and found considerably less being spent in Scotland per pupil than schools in England invest.

Now in a follow-up report, the learned societies group has estimated the amount that needs to be spent to teach science properly and the findings are deeply worrying. To successfully teach the science curriculum a secondary school needs to budget an average of £30,000 a year, they claim. But the real average across the country is £5,590.

Multiplied up on a national scale that means five times more cash is needed - we currently spend £2m and we should be spending £10m.

Secondary schools need machines for recording data, basic measurement apparatus, smart materials and genetic engineering kits, the learned societies group has claimed.

In some schools teachers are paying out of their own pockets to ensure pupils don't miss out. This is plainly not fair or sustainable.

Meanwhile primaries' needs include microscopes, mirrors, and magnets, torches, stopwatches and motors. Fewer than half of primary schools have enough of such items in working order.

The group also raises concerns about the amount of time devoted to science in some schools and a lack of technician support in secondaries.

The budgets of Education Authorities are hard-pressed. It is not good enough for the Scottish Government to offer the standard response that such funding decisions should be a decision for local councils. This is a national priority and leadership from the centre may be necessary.

Ministers argue that more is spent on science than simply the budgets allocated to science subjects in schools. But £900,000 to support an education research centre providing professional development for teachers is not enough to redress the deficit in basic materials for classrooms.

Science education on the cheap doesn't just impair the chances and restrict the ambitions of current pupils, it runs a major risk of discouraging others from even taking up science topics.

The Education Committee's conclusions, and the learned societies group's report should and must be taken seriously by the Scottish Government.

The price of underfunding science education is an economic one, and undermines the aims of building a smart successful Scotland for the long term.