Education Task Force appointed

WIA President, Michael Owen, VK3KI, has announced that he had appointed a task force to address the issue of amateur radio and schools.

There is no doubt that there is a shortage of trained radio technicians, and this coupled with the changes to the Australian licensing structure presented an opportunity to swell the ranks of radio amateurs, particularly with younger people.

While the terms of reference of the group were wide, so that the group itself would be able to suggest particular avenues that it could follow, there were two main areas of focus.

The first, with a view to the Foundation Licence, was to identify and develop ways to encourage the schools to make greater use of amateur radio as a means to get electronics back into secondary schools.

The other focus arose from the repeated request from recent meetings with clubs, for material to assist both teachers and students, particularly with a view to the Foundation Licence. This should be supported by appropriate promotional material.

The group initially comprises Ron Smith, VK4AGS, a lecturer at Central Queensland University, Brian Clarke, VK2GCE, an education consultant, Lee De Vries, VK3PK, of the Gordon Institute of TAFE at Geelong, and Dave Godfrey, VK3AZX, a former Technical School principal, who would initially act as coordinator of the group.

Source: Wireless Institute of Australia

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