Changes to student contributions for maths and science units

[Readinya]

Hey guys, I found this:

http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/news/pages/changes-to-student-contributions-maths-and-science-units

The Government has announced that, subject to the passage of legislation, from 1 January 2013, the maximum student contribution amounts for all students enrolled in maths or science units will increase from the National Priority rate ($4,520 per EFTSL in 2012, indexed annually) to Band 2 ($8,050 per EFTSL in 2012, indexed annually).

This means that the maximum student contribution amounts for mathematics, statistics and science units of study will now be the same for all students, no matter when they commenced their course.

Does that mean math and science are no longer a national priority?

[ninwa]

Yep I think so. Budget-surplus-at-all-costs and all that

[enwiabe]

I think there are better ways of getting people to do maths/sci than reduced HECS. That's obviously why this was one of the first things to go to increase surplus. It wasn't getting any results.

Here's a novel fucking idea though, teach it competently in primary and high school.

That'd be a great start.

Also pay maths teachers better because the talented mathematicians are NOT pursuing teaching. They can be far better compensated for their talents and they know it. It's just stupid to expect to have good maths teachers for such paltry pay when the mathematically skilled know they can do much better.

Idiot bureaucrats.

[thushan]

Here's a novel fucking idea though, teach it competently in primary and high school.

SO EFFING TRUE!

They should teach students how to THINK!

[slothpomba]

I think there are better ways of getting people to do maths/sci than reduced HECS

Definitely. Lets not forget our fees are already subsidised by the government. We might pay 8k for our course as a result of this but it still costs international students something like 20k, the government is still paying for a fair portion of it. We went into this in depth in the previous thread about this.



Most people put their fees on HECS-HELP and forget about it. It's not like anyone who was a citizen/PR was choosing their course based on the cost (rightly so).

However, my problem is that science is now in band 2. Band 2 along with things like Engineering and IT. As far as i know, the bands are based on skill shortage and the salary people with that degree make on average. Obviously, science wont be generally pulling law or medicine money. I'd argue its more in shortage and has a lower monetary pay off than Engineering(iffy) or IT though.  I think it should be in band 1 personally.

~$8 000/$30 000 = ~25% . So, we're still only paying a quarter. I really wouldn't want to see that move post 33% or 40% for any course except the ones that'll pull you megabucks like the ones in band 3.

Even if it was taught "competently" though, i dont know how big of an increase we'll get. We already have a lot of people who do very well in math going over to commerce or other fields that aren't science. Theres only so much you can do to force demand to increase when you have plenty of other people aiming for the more prestigious or better paying careers (which is a whole other problem now entirely).

[Starlight]

[EvangelionZeta]

Here's a novel fucking idea though, teach it competently in primary and high school.

SO EFFING TRUE!

They should teach students how to THINK!

Genuinely curious as somebody who quit science after year 10, how do you teach science in high school to make it more accessible and interesting to the average student?  I feel as though a lot of the students who are fed up with the short-sightedness of the high school science curriculum are the ones who might actually take it at uni, because they have more of a yearning for learning more (and, after all, if they recognise that it's a limited course, they surely know more than the course, which implies some sort of active interest in science, right?). 

[enwiabe]

Here's a novel fucking idea though, teach it competently in primary and high school.

SO EFFING TRUE!

They should teach students how to THINK!

Genuinely curious as somebody who quit science after year 10, how do you teach science in high school to make it more accessible and interesting to the average student?  I feel as though a lot of the students who are fed up with the short-sightedness of the high school science curriculum are the ones who might actually take it at uni, because they have more of a yearning for learning more (and, after all, if they recognise that it's a limited course, they surely know more than the course, which implies some sort of active interest in science, right?). 

You have to teach it from a discovery perspective. Rote memory isn't useful to interest kids. There has to be a much better mix of doing the chore (learning shit), and then using it in exciting ways.

They don't do nearly enough of the latter.

[thushan]

That's coz a fair few teachers don't give a shit and ceebs doing the latter.

[Gloamglozer]

I thought that they were introducing it in 2015 or something like that?  So now all students are affected from next year onwards?