On Tuesday 27th January 2015 at 4pm the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education will discuss whether current STEM education in UK schools properly equips our young people for careers in the sciences.
In November, the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan MP, was both lauded and criticised for suggesting that young people should steer away from studying the arts and humanities and opt for science or maths subjects if they want to have a successful career. Ms Morgan said that as the world changes, the UK must produce a workforce that is equipped to compete globally, and that means producing more physicists, engineers, and mathematicians.
But does current science education provision actually equip young people for the challenges of a modern world and economy? And what more could be done? Particularly, with only 19% of girls who achieved an A* in GCSE physics continuing to study it at A level, how can we encourage more girls to pursue scientific studies?
The meeting will be addressed by the Chair of the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, Andrew Miller MP. A long-standing advocate of strong and innovative science education, Andrew is also Vice-Chairman of PITCOM and a member of the Editorial Board of Science in Parliament.
We will also be joined by Katherine Mathieson, Director of Programmes for the British Science Association. Katherine oversees all of the Association’s public programmes and has a particular interest in education programmes – her first role was Director of Education, focussing on expanding the prestigious CREST Awards programme to under-privileged schools and establishing the new National Science and Engineering Competition for teenagers. There will be an opportunity for discussion and contributions from the floor following Katherine’s address.
The meeting will be held in Room U of Portcullis House. We very much hope you will be able to join us. Please respond to Jamie Slavin, either by email on [email protected] or by telephone on 020 7828 1603.