Science still failing to excite

The Australian, Justine Ferrari, 28 August 2007

 

The Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS) has accused the Federal Government of concentrating on
marginal issues in education. Instead of focusing on issues such as performance-based pay for teachers, the
ACDS believes that the Federal Government should be addressing the major problems evident in school science
curricula and the shortage of qualified science teachers.

ACDS president, John Rice, believes that the Federal Government’s education priorities are wrong and that steps
should be taken to adequately train teachers, especially in fields such as science, maths and engineering.

‘There's a lack of vision and understanding. It's not as though they haven't the money; they have their priorities
and perspective all wrong,’ Mr Rice said.

The Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (AATSE) also share Mr Rice’s concerns. The
coordinator of the AATSE education committee, Don Watts, argued that both the federal and state governments
were unable to recognise the crisis in science education.

The Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Ms Julie Bishop, has said that the Federal Government
has funded a number of projects intended to improve school science. Recently, the government has commissioned
the Australian Academy of Science to develop a primary school science curriculum, and $34 million has been
invested in creating links between schools and science organisations in a bid to show young students the benefits
and applications of science

 

 

 

 

 

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