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The present study examined whether gender, ethnicity, instructional medium and school category differences manifest in science performance and motivation to learn science among secondary school students in Sri Lanka. The mean of five successive term test scores was used as the measure of science performance. Level of motivation in terms of six dimensions was measured by using the Science Motivation Questionnaire. A sample of 1316 grade 11 students representing Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim ethnic groups from the three categories of public schools, which provide instructions in the vernacular languages of Sinhala or Tamil, participated in the study. Girls showed significantly higher performance in science compared to boys, and there was a significant gender difference in the levels of motivational dimensions in favor of girls. Although Tamil medium students possessed a higher level of motivation to learn science, Sinhala medium students outperformed their Tamil medium counterparts in science performance. Significant differences in science performance between Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim students were also observed. However, motivation towards learning science between Tamils and Muslims was not significantly different. Highly significant differences in both motivation to learn science and performance in science were found between three categories of schools. The present study provides information to education officials who have to achieve equity across gender, ethnicity, medium of instruction, and school category, teachers who deliver the subject and school principals who design academic support programs.

"Swing away from science" is a dilemma that researchers are seeking solutions over 50 years. The dilemma is becoming more complicated due to the developmental decline in students' motivation toward learning science around the world, particularly at the secondary level. While the parental involvement becomes more vital in the secondary school years, it also dramatically declines in this period. The study investigated the level of parental involvement in terms of parents' socioeconomic factors and students' demographic factors. The association between parental involvement measured in terms of four dimensions and Sri Lankan secondary public school students' motivation toward learning science measured in terms of six dimensions was also studied. A random sample of 689 students and their parents participated in this quantitative survey. While the parental involvement showed significant differences in relation to the parents' income level and the school category that the child attends, the same showed no significant difference in relation to parents' ethnicity and child's gender. Parental involvement showed a strong association with students' intrinsically and extrinsically motivated science learning and self-efficacy. Home-based parental involvements had a stronger impact on students' motivation compared to the school-based involvements. Measures that can be taken by the stakeholders to strengthen the parental involvement activities, which enhance students' motivation to learn science and mitigate swing away from science were discussed.