Media Release
NEW AWARDS TO HONOUR AUSTRALIA’S OUTSTANDING SCIENCE TEACHERS
24 June 2002, MIN 101/02
Science teachers are critically important. If Australia is to
build upon its scientific and technological capabilities to ensure
our future prosperity, it is essential to have teachers who are
enthusiastic , well trained and committed to nurturing student
interest.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the Prime Minister has
approved two new science prizes. The Prime Minister’s Prize for
Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools, and the Prime
Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary
Schools.
Worth $35,000 each, these prizes will be awarded to recognise
those teachers who have made an outstanding contribution to science
education in Australia.
In recent years, the Howard Government has initiated a number of
significant prizes for science, including the Prime Minister’s
Prize, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Achievement in the Physical
Sciences, and the Minister’s Prize for Achievement in the Life
Sciences.
If we aspire to be a nation that is passionate about science,
those who teach science need to be encouraged and recognized as much
as those who work in Australia’s laboratories and research centres.
It is often the influence of an inspiring teacher that will set a
student upon their chosen path.
The new awards will be funded through the National Innovation
Awareness Strategy, which aims to promote community awareness of the central role that science and
technology plays in the achievement of Australia's economic and
social goals.
They will be awarded, in conjunction with the Prime Minister's
Prize for Science, at a major ceremony at Parliament House on 20
August 2002.
Details of the selection process for this year's Prizes are being
finalised, in conjunction with the Australian Science Teachers
Association, and will be announced shortly.
For further information:
| Dr Nelson’s Office |
Ross Hampton |
0419 484 095 |
| DEST |
Virginia Cook |
0412 971 323 |
|
