SCHOOL-INDUSTRY LINKS: A VALUE ADDING PROCESS

Abstract

The establishment of links between SAGASCO Resources Limited (SAGASCO) and secondary schools in the city and country regions of South Australia has provided benefits to both the petroleum industry and to the students and teachers at the schools. Links between Penola High School in the southeast of South Australia and Hamilton Secondary School in Adelaide began in 1993 and have continued to the present. Feedback from the schools has been positive and significant. The two schools have overwhelmingly endorsed the links and have benefited both in curriculum development and in gaining a glimpse of industry operations that is not found in textbooks. The benefits from the link process has also revealed a cascade effect in which students and teachers have utilised information on the petroleum industry and incorporated it into reports, publications and texts that have been further used by the schools and the community, thus enhancing the original link process. Links with schools require stronger support by the petroleum industry to meet the needs of schools and to provide balance to the often negative profile of our industry in the community both in the immediate and longer term.