The Australian government recently announced changing its entry requirements for foreigners applying for a skilled worker visa to gain employment or permanent residency in Australia. The legislation now allows applicants to be awarded 5 extra points if they have certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) qualifications. Some of these qualifications include biological sciences, civil engineering, information technology and physics and astronomy. These changes are likely to have positive effects in terms of addressing the current STEM skills shortage in Australia and were made after the 2016 Migrant Intake into Australia report. This decision was made to maximise benefits to Australia’s economy and now allows the country to select the brightest professionals from all over the world for permanent residency.
Why?
Do we think that these changes are drastic? Or that they are imperative?
Australia has been facing a crisis in terms of the numbers of students and workers being interested in or finding employment in STEM industries. Surveys and articles over the last few years have warned us of Australia’s lack of qualified students and teachers in STEM fields.
For example, in 2014, we were told that Australia was facing a math crisis where just one in ten students were choosing to study higher math in year 12. They also found that girls were less motivated to study math and science than boys, and this trend had already been continuing for 10 years. In the same article, Rachel Wilson, a researcher from the University of Sydney mentioned that “Australia is quite possibly the only developed nation on the planet that does not make it compulsory to study maths in order to graduate from high school.” Years later, this has still not changed.
Surveys showed that children from Sweden, Japan, Korea, Russia, Finland, Taiwan and Estonia, where math was made compulsory until the end of high school, were found to be better than Australian students in mathematics. Statistics also showed that these children were likely to choose STEM-related qualifications after leaving school. This clearly will make them far better equipped for the roles of the jobs of the future than our own Australian children and unfortunately, local employers will have to find international alternatives to solve the lack of skilled labour.
We need a fix
STEMmates is here to help be part of the solution! Our hands-on, activity-based, courses are designed to get children excited about STEM subjects at an early age. Through problem-solving and critical thinking, students are able to learn why STEM subjects are important and they also learn essential soft skills such as communication and teamwork. Get your child involved in Australia’s STEM solution today. Visit our Facebook and website pages to find out more.
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