A Shorten Labor Government will invest $580,000 in two University of Newcastle projects to boost the number of young people in Newcastle and surrounds participating in Science, Technology, Engineering and\u00a0Mathematics (STEM).
\nThis election will be a choice between a united Shorten Labor Government,\u00a0which will restore the Liberals\u2019 education cuts and give students the education they deserve, or more of the Liberals\u2019 cuts and chaos.\u00a0We need real change,\u00a0because more of the same isn\u2019t good enough.
\nMember for Newcastle Sharon Claydon said that STEM capability will be fundamental to driving innovation and prosperity into the future.
\n\u201cWhile many jobs are disappearing, STEM jobs continue to grow at a rapid pace,\u201d Ms Claydon said.
\n\u201cIf Australia is to stake our place in the 21st\u00a0century knowledge economy, we need to ensure that our young people have the skills and opportunity to secure the jobs of the future.\u201d
\nMs Claydon said a $400,000 commitment would allow the University of Newcastle to extend the work of\u00a0HunterWiSE\u00a0\u2013 a collaborative network of women in STEM focused on addressing low female participation rates in the sector \u2013 for three years.
\n\u201cThe funding will support\u00a0HunterWiSE\u00a0Outreach, a 10-week intensive program\u00a0that\u00a0links girls in high schools across the region with female mentors working or studying in STEM sectors to tackle problems in their local community,\u201d Ms Claydon said.
\n\u201cParticipants will also benefit from campus and workplace visits, weekly workshops and a final presentation of their solution to industry representatives.\u201d
\nMs Claydon said a further $180,000 would be dedicated to the development of a pilot virtual science lab program to give regional school students opportunities to engage in science.
\n\u201cThe virtual science lab will foster a love of science and provide education about career pathways for year nine and\u00a010\u00a0students from two regional high schools,\u201d Ms Claydon said.
\n\u201cStudents will connect a couple of times a week in real time to explore science themes from university experts, watch live experiments and do activities.\u201d
\nUniversity of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor Professor Alex\u00a0Zelinsky\u00a0AO welcomed the funding commitments.
\n\u201cOur\u00a0university is absolutely committed to giving talented people the opportunity to get a university education and to make a difference, regardless of where they live or what gender they are,\u201d Professor\u00a0Zelinsky\u00a0said.
\n\u201cThese projects will encourage more girls and women into STEM careers and give greater access to regional students to develop their love of science.
\n\u201cWe need to inspire these young people to take on STEM careers because they\u2019ll ultimately be the ones who will need to solve the world\u2019s greatest challenges.\u201d
\nA Shorten Labor Government will also uncap university places and invest $100 million to upgrade TAFE facilities.
\nThis election is a choice between\u00a0Labor\u2019s\u00a0plans for better schools, hospitals and universities,\u00a0or\u00a0the Liberals\u2019\u00a0bigger tax loopholes for the top end of town.
\nIt\u2019s time to end the chaos.\u00a0Vote for change.\u00a0Vote for Labor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Shorten Labor Government will invest $580,000 in two University of Newcastle projects to boost the number of young people in Newcastle and surrounds participating in Science, Technology, Engineering and\u00a0Mathematics (STEM). This election will be a choice between a united Shorten Labor Government,\u00a0which will restore the Liberals\u2019 education cuts and give students the education they … Continue reading “LABOR COMMITS TO DRIVING STEM\u202fPARTICIPATION IN NEWCASTLE AND SURROUNDS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}