Petition Statement

We the undersigned welcome the Rudd government’s support for increasing the number of skilled high school teachers in the area of mathematics. We suggest that while encouraging more graduates to take up full time teaching positions the government provide support for joint school and university positions.

These positions, intended for PhD graduates who also hold a DipEd, would involve part time teaching at a high school and part time research at a local university. This set of non-traditional jobs would be perfect for those graduates who, for a variety of reasons often relating to their family, are unable to undertake the traditional academic path. The schools and their students would benefit both from the increase in their staff but also the stronger ties to universities. University departments would likewise benefit by the inclusion of these researchers who would otherwise often leave academia altogether.

The current harsh lines drawn between secondary and tertiary education are only a disadvantage to us as a larger community. Positions such as these will provide a badly needed bridge between to two areas while bolstering Australia’s research performance.

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