Page 923 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 1990
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Amendment agreed to.
Clause, as amended, agreed to.
Remainder of Bill, by leave, taken as a whole, and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
SCHOOLS AUTHORITY - 1988-89 REPORT
Statement and Paper
Debate resumed from 22 March 1990, on motion by Mr Humphries:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
MS MAHER (9.03): I wish to address the Assembly on the tabling of the 1988-89 ACT Schools Authority annual report.
The basic premise in the Alliance policy on the status of women is that women must have freedom of choice to pursue their chosen lifestyles and realise their full potential. The inequality in participation in certain areas of training and employment stems from influences such as subject choices in schools. On reading the annual report of the ACT Schools Authority, I am pleased to see that the new Department of Education is addressing this issue.
A major survey on school leavers in the ACT, launched recently by the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts, my colleague Mr Gary Humphries, outlines with particular clarity the problems that we are facing in this area. The survey, undertaken in 1988 by the Office of Industry and Development in collaboration with the then ACT Schools Authority, showed that in their year 12 packages a much higher proportion of males - 12 per cent more - was choosing science subjects and that 20 per cent more females than males were likely to choose social education subjects. This pattern was again echoed in the choices that students were making in further education, with males dominating the sciences and females dominating the arts.
In 1989 the Schools Authority began a number of new projects to strengthen the teaching of science and technology, with particular focus on stimulating girls' interest in careers in these areas. The Alliance Government perceives science and technology as one of the most important areas for further industrial and commercial development in the ACT, making the success of the endeavours of the Department of Education of even greater importance.
A hindrance to involving females in maths and the sciences is that often girls fail to see the relevance of maths and
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