ACS has announced its support of the recommendations in the Education Forum’s Optimising STEM Industry-School Partnerships: Inspiring Australia’s Next Generation report that was released on Monday.
The report contains ten recommendations, four of which will be undertaken in partnership with industry. These recommendations span from primary education through to workforce training, with a view to creating a strong STEM-skilled workforce for Australia’s future.
With a particular focus on recommendations to develop minimum national requirements for STEM-discipline professional educators, ACS President Yohan Ramasundara spoke of the need to provide greater support for teachers.
“We agree that the government needs to help educators get better qualifications for teaching of STEM skills. We need to engage students in STEM subjects in order to prepare them for the workforce of tomorrow, and to do that we need teachers that are properly trained in those subjects,” he said.
“This training needs to extend beyond STEM specialists as well. All teachers need to be better prepared. Research has shown that interest in STEM fields starts in primary school, and teachers at that level need to be able to engage and educate young Australians.”
The report also recommends the engagement of STEM students with real world problems in an effort to enhance career flexibility.
“The pervasive nature of technology will drive solutions for a range of issues facing not just our local population, but people across the planet, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t encourage today’s students to find innovative STEM based solutions to problems like homelessness, inequality and disadvantage,” Ramasundara said.
