An interesting study from an Australian task force comprised of education experts has found that the country’s teachers aren’t all on board to teach Science, Technology, Math and Engineering.

In fact, the task force’s notes indicate that many of the country’s early education experts chose that career path to avoid having to teach STEM at all, says the Daily Telegraph.

"The findings by the Early Learning STEM Australia task force come as the...government grapples with improving ­standards among Australian children, who ­seriously lag behind other countries such as China,” the Daily Telegraph said.

Similarly to the U.S., Australia is increasingly focusing on capitalizing on digital education to increase student achievement on a national level.

According to The Daily Telegraph, one of Australia’s biggest initiatives as of late is the roll-out of “STEM apps” to preschools around the country by next summer.

These apps, funded by a $6 million commitment, are designed to teach STEM to children at the earliest ages to avoid missing opportunities. For early education teachers who said they were avoiding teaching STEM, this might not be the best news.

Other recent STEM initiatives from the country include ensuring that all teachers who teach STEM are certified in the respective subject by 2020 as well as funding STEM-focused school-business partnerships in the country’s high schools. 

Read more about the study here.

Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

6/10/2016