Australia might no longer be a clever country
Declining interest rate in maths and science might be primarily due to the economic condition of the state
Australia is in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, crisis; and therefore, new initiatives have been developed to tackle the present situation. Methods such as engaging the students with mathematics and science, transforming the way subjects are taught and kindling student interest are being talked about.
Most of the students are choosing not to study these subjects at high school. Further, present NSW high school certificate or HSC graduates are not well prepared to enter STEM courses at universities, with 50 percent finishing high school with no science study at all, said theconversation.com report.
Countries like US, China and Finland makes science and mathematics a mandate study for high school graduation, but Australians do get to choose, and in the Charles Sturt University, NSW, they have 43 subjects to choose from, excluding 62 language courses.
More students now complete high school and university, but there are stagnation and declines in mathematics and science. The situation has occurred in a period when it is evident that these subjects play an ever-increasing role in one’s lives and in countries' economies. This has placed Australia in an uncertain position in the world’s competitive knowledge economy.
The recent data by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, or NCVER, revealed that in September, there was a decline in the number of apprentices commencing as well as completing training. This was in comparison with the previous 12-month period, apprenticeship as well as traineeship commencements between March 2014 to March 2015 and that it has decreased by 19.8 percent..
Now, students do less math and less science at university than their previous generations, and the rate is much lower in science and maths than their peers around the world. If the situation continues like this, Australians might no longer think of themselves as belonging to the clever country, according to the Sydney.au report.
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