The Warren Centre has come out in support of the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s (ACARA) final draft of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies.
Dr Nick Cerneaz, Executive Director of the Warren Centre said: “We are graduating less than half the engineers we need each year. The current shortfall is partly met through skilled migrant intake.
“Next time you’re stuck at your local bottleneck of traffic congestion, slow, delayed and cancelled public transport connections or pondering limited airport options or dealing with slow broadband and sub-standard health, education and regional infrastructure, remember that it’s engineers and technologists who are critical to fixing these bottlenecks.
“Without enough new graduates these bottlenecks will never be adequately addressed.”
The decline in participation in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) subjects by students in High School must be arrested.
The new Technologies curricula provides opportunities to broaden the STEM approach and to give teachers some of the resources needed to inspire today’s students – and tomorrow’s workforce – to solve the problems facing Australia.
The Curriculum includes Digital Technologies, and Design and Technologies which will be mandatory for years F-8 (Foundation/Kindergarten to 8), and optional in Years 9-10. Drafting for subjects for Years 11-12 has now begun.
These subjects teach the fundamentals of design and technology from the start of schooling, with a strong emphasis on engineering principles and the application of maths and science to solving everyday problems.
The new curricula are open for comment until 10 May 2013 and stakeholders are encouraged to visit the ACARA website and review the Curriculum.
[Photo credit: quinn.anya via photopin cc]