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FUNDING EXTENDED FOR ACADEMY SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
2 July 2008

The Australian Academy of Science is delighted that the Minister for Education, the Hon Julia Gillard has advised that funding for the science education programs Primary Connections: Linking science with literacy and Science by Doing will continue.

Funding for the programs was to end this year, but support has now been extended to the end of 2010 to fund new stages for both.

Professor Kurt Lambeck, President of the Academy, says: 'The Academy is concerned about education at all levels. If Australia gets education right then everything else will succeed; if we get it wrong then nothing else matters.'

The programs are partnerships between the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and the Australian Academy of Science, with input from CSIRO and the Australian Science Teachers Association on the Science by Doing program.

Primary Connections has been highly successful in giving primary school teachers the tools to engage their students and harness their natural curiosity to explore how the world works. The program, developed in consultation with all states and territories, has won a coveted and prestigious Australian Publishers Association Award. Research confirms it is highly successful in classrooms.

Science by Doing is an online inquiry-based program for junior secondary students designed to promote active learning and stimulate interest in science.

The funding announcement coincides with today's National Press Club address by Professor Julie Campbell, the Academy's Secretary for Science Education and Public Awareness.

Professor Campbell's address will focus on inquiry-based science education in Australia in the context of the government's initiative to develop a national curriculum. She will discuss the importance of science for Australia's future and explain the role that Primary Connections and Science by Doing programs will play in developing quality national curricula.

Professor Campbell says: 'The technological world is changing at an incredible rate, and Australia's economy demands high quality science education to cope with this change.'

'There is a decline in the number of students electing to study science, technology and mathematics both in senior secondary years of school and at university. In order for Australian students to be motivated to train in these professions the research indicates that they need to have a solid background in science education before age 14 and, most importantly, they have to be excited by it.'

Further information:

www.science.org.au/primaryconnections
www.sciencebydoing.edu.au/