Quote:
Originally Posted by mswhin63
In WA it is compulsory to study Science in year 11 and 12 with the exception of some specialist courses. I suppose if this was going to happen I am glad that my son has the exposure in science as he is interested in Geology.
Bit disappointing though that science is considered less important seeing most labour intensive skills are shipping offshore most opportunities in the future will be science based.
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Actually Malcom it is not compulsory to study science in the last two years in WA. You must simply have a list A (maths/science) and list B subject (humanities/english etc). Many students pick the lowest level maths to cover the list A requirement (about year 9 level maths when I was at school) and fill the rest with artsy fartsy subjects. English is no longer taught in the senior years and has been replaced with sociology under the guise on english. This has been coming for a long time as english and maths are seen to be the only subjects of any importance both in current State Curriculum and the incoming Australian Curriculum. Why? it will be linked to funding of course based on those wonderful naplan benchmark tests (literacy and numeracy only). I went to a PD on the national model last week and the recommended time allocation per subject presented had both maths and english with a minimum of 5 hours per week whilst science was only deemed to be worth 2 -3 hours a week (the same as PE, metalwork, childcare, cooking etc). This is something science teachers have been fighting for years but it just falls on deaf ears. It is up to science teachers to fully engage their students and get them interested enough that they are willing to take science on at a senior school level. If we fail to do this then as has happened with geology in SA, the sciences will slowy die here as well.
Mark