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South Australia picks up science education gauntlet after Feds drop it

Education

A SCIENCE club for children has been launched in South Australia to replace a popular national science education program that was dropped due to federal funding cuts.

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The Bright Sparks Science Club , launched last week at The University of Adelaide, will fill a gap left after Federal Government funding cuts to the CSIRO saw dollars diverted away from science education and outreach programs.

Bright Sparks offers regular holiday, after-school and weekend science and technology activities for 6-15 year olds.

Veteran science communicator and Public Service Medal-recipient Rona Sakko is coordinating the new club.

“As far as I know, South Australia is the only state offering this kind of science club now,” said Rona.

Rona ran the activities-based Double Helix Science Club in Adelaide for 16 years, before it ceased operations mid-2014.

“When the South Australian Double Helix Club closed, I had kids and parents in tears. I was inundated with messages from parents desperate for a science club to continue,” said Rona.

“It’s really important to target this age group, the primary school and lower secondary school-aged kids.”

“A large study of over 700 scientists in Australia and New Zealand showed that this is the critical age to be targeting. This is the time when they really can get hooked into science,” she said.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are vitally important in the modern world. 

Professor Bob Hill, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, says supporting the Bright Sparks Science Club is a natural fit with the broader aims of The University of Adelaide. 

“We understand the power of having children that age engaged in science,” he said.

“The point of the club is not to convince children to come to The University of Adelaide. We just want them to have an interest in science – the whole community benefits from that.”

Liesl von der Borch is parent to four children aged 21-12, all of whom had previously attended CSIRO science outreach programs in South Australia.

“We were devastated when the Double Helix Club shut down, utterly devastated,” she said.

She says the new club will provide important opportunities for her fourth child Jamal, now aged 12.

“I don’t know what I would do without it, because I’m not a scientist,” she said. “Jamal has such a passion for physics, for chemistry, and for bird ecology. I can’t meet that need for him.”

Bright Sparks was officially launched at The University of Adelaide by Dr Andrew Dunbar, Director of the Office of Science, Technology and Research, representing Gail Gago, MLC, Minister for Science and Information Economy.

digital magazine called e-Science

Bookings and club member registrations for Bright Sparks can be made at http://www.sciences.adelaide.edu.au/bright-sparks/

This is a Creative Commons story from The Lead South Australia, a news service providing stories about innovation in South Australia. Please feel free to use the story in any form of media. The story sources are linked in with the copy and all contacts are willing to talk further about the story. Copied to Clipboard

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