A Bangladeshi born filmmaker and science teacher has taken to online videos to promote science, while taking a subtle pot-shot at ‘mystics’ who use tricks to con people out of money.

Alom Shaha has made a half-hour film titled ‘Why Science is Important’, thanks to funding from various sources, which aims to tell youngsters why they should bother with science.

He said in an interview earlier that that inspiration came when he returned to the classroom after seven years working in TV. “I found myself questioning whether our approach to teaching conveys the fundamental importance of science to schoolchildren.”

“So, as a science TV producer, I decided to make a film about it,” he added. “My goal for the project was to make it easier for any science teacher to answer that inevitable question, ‘What’s the point of all this?’”

The film has been split up into short clips too, one of which is below

Alom Shaha worked in television for around seven years, starting off at the BBC as a researcher where he worked on shows ranging from ‘What the Victorians Did for Us’ to ‘Horizon’.

He told AIM magazine: “I then worked for a number of independent TV companies including Screenhouse in Leeds (where I worked on BBC TWO’s “Science Shack”) and Lion TV and Pioneer Productions in London.”

He added: “I worked mainly as a development producer for a couple of years and then moved to Brook Lapping Productions where I have produced and directed a series about mathematics and a series about particle physics (both for Teachers’ TV).”

The full 30 min film can be seen here: whyscience.co.uk/the-film

He says he plans to carry on teaching part-time and make more films about science.

He has also made a number of independent short films – all of which you can see on his youtube channel. He was recently interviewed for the Guardian Science podcast, which can be heard from here.