Federal Budget’s STEM Focus a Start
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ 2023-24 Federal Budget’s focus on creating a supply of STEM focussed graduates has been welcomed but needs to be extended.
The creation of a raft of new STEM jobs via the AUKUS initiative is a positive but creating applicants that are suited to the work means more focus on STEM teaching in schools.
Associate Professor Jane Hunter (University of Technology Sydney, AARE) an expert in curriculum, digital learning and pre-service and in-service teacher education says, "funding needs to be extended to a focus on teacher education in universities and a targeted program to attract school leavers to want to teach the STEM disciplines in schools."
The budget provides for $127.3 million in funding over the next four years for an additional 4,000 Commonwealth-supported places at universities for courses that support the nuclear-powered submarine program, including STEM and management disciplines.
"This funding needs to be extended to a focus on teacher education in universities and a targeted program to attract school leavers to want to teach the STEM disciplines in schools from the early to the senior years.
"Such Commonwealth-supported places must be inclusive of teachers already in schools who want to re-train and upskill in the STEM disciplines and those career changers in STEM industries who seek to enter the teaching profession."
Associate Professor Simon Leonard (University of South Australia) believes that the connections between training and the workplace need to be strengthened and clear career pathways set.
"The initiatives around skills study and apprenticeships are welcome. In an economy with near full employment but facing the kinds of transformation that AI is bringing, young people need a renewed emphasis on skill development.
"What we need to see is the translation of these initiatives and the ‘joined up workforce strategy’ of the previous government to really take shape. The National Careers Institute, for example, is an excellent initiative that has brought together a great evidence base on how we can assist young peoples’ career development.
"These approaches based on current best evidence, however, have been slow to translate into schools. So, it will be really important that the different players are brought together around these workforce and skills challenges.
"The emphasis that the AUKUS plan brings to high skill jobs also presents some real challenges in the ‘pipeline’. For decades now, Australian education policy has been driven by an emphasis on ‘basic skills’ like those assessed in NAPLAN. It is far from clear, however, that lifting basic skills translates into the kind of increase to the high-skills workforce the government is looking for here.
Associate Professor Katherine Main (Griffith University) is enthusiastic about the budget’s funding for new teachers, but feels there should be more focus on specific needs.
She stresses that we need more teachers, but we also need more teachers with explicit training to make a difference in recognised areas of need.
"Continually looking towards improving and providing more equitable access to quality education for all Australians is critical but must be considered within a broader question concerning the purpose of education, and its role in cultivating active, informed, and engaged citizens.
"Importantly, conscious efforts should be made to listen to student voice and ensure their learning and wellbeing are embedded into the process of curriculum design and implementation.
"There are tensions between the different objectives of the budget – for example, expanding access to foundation skills training and supporting community�‘based and culturally safe pathways to training and $40.4 million to improve school attendance, engagement, and learning outcomes for students in Central Australian schools against the $9.3 million, on top of $328 million previously announced for the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan which is designed to attract, train and retain people in the teaching profession."