TAG 167WEB

Society UpdateEducation&OutreachMore than 12 months ago the Gonski Report was handedto Government with a recommendation that $5 billionextra was needed to ensure schooling outcomes inAustralia improve. Now as I write, the Federal and StateGovernments are negotiating funding packages that may see theGonski Report become something of a reality. Unfortunately thereare two issues bearing down on this important reform. First, theFederal Government has partly funded its proposal by reallocatingscarce resources from university funds, which will alienate manyin the tertiary education sector who would otherwise championthis much-needed boost to school education. Second, with afederal election due this year and State and Federal relationshipsrarely bipartisan, it is inevitable that this proposal and manyother education-related promises will become politicised.Consequently, it is unclear just what this reform will ultimatelymean for education generally and science education specifically.I suspect it will remain unclear until the dust has settled on thefederal election and the new government, whatever its politicalbias, stamps its authority on this initiative.No matter what the outcome of the election and thesubsequent way the proposed reform may ultimately be dealtwith, it is incumbent on us as members of the science community,the education community and the general public to ensure ourpolitical leaders understand the cost of doing nothing to improveAustralian education as well as the cost of robbing tertiary Peterto pay pre-tertiary Paul. It is now easier than ever to let youropinions be known through social media and direct contact withcandidates for elected office. To quietly sit on the sidelines is nolonger an option we can afford to adopt.In the previous issue (TAG 166, March 2013) I wrote that thenew Earth and Environmental Science (EES) course is set tobecome the fourth senior subject, equivalent in weight anddegree of difficulty to the other three: Biology , Chemistry andPhysics. I am still reviewing how tertiary entrance scores arecalculated across Australia but scores are not the whole story;many university science faculties also set prerequisites additionalto minimum scores. Simply put, they require a senior student tohave completed one of Biology, Chemistry or Physics with othersubjects including English in this list. The exact nature of the listvaries among institutions and some have no prerequisites as faras I can tell.We know that students interested in studying science atuniversity will study science subjects at school and usually choosethose subjects that they are interested in. These students canexpect to pass (and in so doing achieve a good university entrancescore) and they need to pass in order to meet prerequisitesset by their universities of choice. The question I have is, “Willthose universities that do set (one of) Biology , Chemistry orPhysics as prerequisites also now set senior EES as an acceptableprerequisite, and if not, why not?”University entrance requirementshave dominated students’ choice ofsenior subjects at school for manyyears and I don’t think that will end anytime soon. However ,should EES not be adopted as an acceptable prerequisite alongwith other senior science subjects by universities that set them,EES will not be an attractive option for schools to teach or forstudents to enrol in. This may become the ultimate barrier to thesuccessful roll-out of EES nationwide. I am interested to hearfrom anybody in a science faculty where prerequisites are set andwhat, if anything, their faculty is planning to do as EES rolls outnationally. I am also keen to hear from any science faculty thatalready has EES in its ‘one of’ list.GREG McNAMARAGeoscience Education and Outreach ServicesSend all comments to Greg McNamara atoutreach@gsa.org.auAUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCEAWARDS FORSCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCENominations are being sought for the2014 HADDON FORRESTER KING MEDALsponsored by Rio Tinto for research inmineral explorationThe Medal is one of the Academy’s prestigious careerawards for life-long achievement and outstandingcontribution to science.Criteria can be found at www.science.org.au/awards/ s/awards/haddon.htmlPlease contactawards@science.org.auaufor nomination formsor further informationClosing date 29 July 2013TAG June 2013| 15