Marine Discovery Centre

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (14:59): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Can the minister update the house on the work of South Australia's Marine Discovery Centre and its links to education?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills) (14:59): I am delighted to answer this question. I am pleased to have been asked it by the member for Colton, in whose company I have visited the Marine Discovery Centre twice now.

For those unaware, the Marine Discovery Centre, located at the Star of the Sea School campus at Henley Beach, has been operating for some 20 years now, and during this time it has developed a very good reputation in the quality of the education provided not just to the students of Star of the Sea but to far more students than that.

We know that science, technology, engineering and maths and the connections between these fields are becoming increasingly important for our students. The more opportunities we offer students to study these subjects, particularly if they are presented in a hands-on and engaging manner, the stronger their interest will be.

I am pleased to inform the house that this government will continue to support the work of the Marine Discovery Centre. The centre gives students in this state the opportunity to make a real-life connection with the marine environment that is such an important part of their world, and this is an opportunity that they may not otherwise get.

With a grant of $20,000 from the state government for this financial year, the centre will be able to continue its valuable work. The centre is open to all students and last year welcomed students from150 government, independent and Catholic schools. With its aquariums, activities, models and experiments, it brings to life the sea and its surrounds and demonstrates a part of our ecology that is so very important to this state. Each year, the centre receives approximately 9,000 visitors, the vast majority of whom are school students. These visitors are assisted by a team of 43 volunteers who support the centre by supervising students, feeding the creatures, cleaning aquariums and installing displays.

The centre helps students understand marine life and its connection with the rest of the planet and, as we know, the more we continue to understand the environment, the more we will value it. This is particularly important as we try to come to grips with climate change, the likely effect on the environment and the steps we need to take to slow it. I am continually impressed at how readily students grasp concepts such as sustainability and direct their own learning to how they can implement it. The Marine Discovery Centre will continue to play an important role in stimulating and aiding this learning.

Furthermore, the centre ensures that these visits by students have firm and specific links to the Australian curriculum. All visiting teachers are provided with curriculum-linked activity packs for their year level, with the focus being on discovery, learning and higher level thinking skills. Furthermore, Aboriginal culture is promoted at the centre, with Kaurna volunteers providing links to their culture and language.

I am proud that this state government is contributing to the continuing and valuable work of the centre in South Australia, and I am pleased that it will continue to play an important role in the education of our children in the increasingly important fields of science, technology, engineering and maths, with a particular focus on the natural sciences which, at times, risks being overlooked in the obsession with robotics.