Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to share with the parliament some thoughts on the importance of teaching STEM in our schools, and to share some experiences from the wonderful electorate of Adelaide that I am so lucky to represent in this place. In the near northern part of the Adelaide electorate is a fantastic school, Roma Mitchell Secondary College, and they have been leading the way on teaching science in schools. This has recently been demonstrated by the fact that a group of six year 10 and 11 students have won a University of South Australia competition and will now get the opportunity to fly to the United States for a study tour—a fantastic achievement for anyone, but particularly year 10 and 11 students. These students will head to Washington DC where they will get the exciting opportunity to visit landmarks and to continue their studies.

This brilliant success by a local school in the Adelaide electorate shows the hard work of teachers, the dedication of students and the recognition from school leaders of the importance of teaching science, technology, engineering and maths in our schools. This accomplishment highlights the importance of placing a priority on teaching skills in STEM in our classrooms. I am incredibly proud to be part of a party that is committed to investing in STEM, in research and in innovation to build and sustain the jobs of the future.

We have heard from the Leader of the Opposition that our policy commitments mean that students all over the country will be offered the same opportunities that these students at Roma Mitchell have had. Labor have announced initiatives that will prepare students, like those at Roma Mitchell, for the changing economy and for the skills that they will need for their future employment. We will give every student the opportunity to learn coding and computational thinking in schools—something that year 11 student Nathan said would strengthen his future career choices.

In 2012 only 16 per cent of higher education students in Australia graduated in STEM related subjects compared to 52 per cent in Singapore and 41 per cent in China. These statistics show a dire need for Australia to place a priority on education in the STEM areas. We have announced that we will provide 100,000 STEM award degrees, which will provide a financial incentive for students to enrol in and complete a STEM undergraduate degree. STEM award degree recipients will have their HECS debt written off upon graduation. Our initiatives also mean that a STEM teacher training fund will be established to support 25,000 primary and secondary school teachers to undertake professional development in STEM disciplines. We will also encourage STEM graduates to teach by offering 25,000 scholarships to address the shortage of qualified teachers. Only Labor is committed to investing in the jobs of the future, and we know that that means education in STEM.

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