The Turnbull Government is backing a new initiative from school principals aimed at enhancing leadership and changing the way Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is taught in our schools.
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said the Turnbull Government’s Principals as STEM Leaders project would strengthen the foundation for greater participation and engagement, and ultimately better learning outcomes in STEM subjects.
“We want to identify and replicate the best STEM leadership practices across Australia,” Minister Birmingham said.
“Three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations in Australia require skills in STEM so it’s vital our next generation of workers have the skills to thrive in the changing employment landscape.
“It is no secret the performance of Australian students in STEM subjects has stagnated and even declined in some measures and this project will identify the leadership and teaching practices in STEM that are currently working well with the aim of rolling these practices out more broadly in our classrooms.
“The $2.6 million we’ve committed to this project will back the research, development and piloting of professional learning approaches to build on principals’ STEM leadership skills.
“It’s those leading approaches that we want to support to drive whole-of-school improvement in STEM engagement and learning outcomes.
“We’re overhauling Australia’s schools funding system and boosting investment by an average of $2,300 per student or $23.5 billion across the whole system ensuring students with the greatest needs get the greatest level of resources.
However while funding is important, we know what’s more important is how it’s used which is why projects like this are so important.
“Through the National Innovation and Science Agenda the Turnbull Government is investing $64 million on top of our record school funding in additional early childhood and school-level STEM programs to boost opportunities and participation in STEM subjects in our schools.”