Weapons companies and private defence interests have infiltrated the education system. Wage Peace intends to kick them out.
As far back as 2016, Defence had identified “attracting and training the future defence workforce” as a “major challenge” to the continued growth of the industry. The 2016 Defence White Paper states:
“A concerted program of recruitment, training, and targeted retention will be required to support this growth”.
Since then, there has been consistent growth in the number of “industry partnerships” being formed between schools and weapons corporations, or bodies funded wholly or partly by weapons corporations. These partnerships serve as the delivery vehicle for recruitment exercises dressed up as science programs.
More information about which programs are affected can be found here, thanks to Teachers for Peace, and in this excellent report from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War.
Several of the offending companies are also direct suppliers of the Israeli Defence Forces. Delivering programs in schools allows these companies to present themselves as “good corporate citizens” and build positive associations with their brand in the minds of the next generation. All while their “products” are falling on Gaza, destroying schools, homes, hospitals, gardens, farms, and lives.
Teachers, students, and parents across so-called Australia are boycotting these programs in solidarity with Palestine. We extend this solidarity to colonised peoples around the world facing militarised force in the form of weapons manufactured (for profit) by these companies. We invite you to join this growing grassroots movement by raising this issue at your school, P&C meeting, or local association – and we have provided some resources to support you to do so – just like these awesome folks from Maganjin giving Boeing hell at the University of Queensland!
Resources for Teachers
Resources for Students
Currently, the biggest hand-brake on the growth of the Australian weapons manufacturing industry is their inability to attract an appropriately skilled workforce. This projected shortfall is the driving force behind the phenomenon of recruitment exercises for weapons companies dressed up as science programs or “edutainment”. The Government seems willing to provide all the money the industry needs to realise their dream of being a global player in the arms trade, but all their billions will amount to nothing without workers. STEM education is only one front of the fight, but we cannot allow it to be hijacked by the interests of the arms trade, and all the genocidal, imperialist regimes it enables. Friends don’t let friends go to work for Lockheed Martin.
How does STEM-washing work?
Normalising Militarism – Competitions, edutainment and engaging activities normalise weapons manufacture, military concepts and ideas. Even pre-school children are targeted. Lockheed Martin’s partnership with the ‘STEM Punk’ program forms a cute sounding name to entice young people into a future designing weapons. “I wanted to be a teacher, but now I’m going to join the military”, (paraphrase) said one 12 year old following a fun drone program.
Laundering Reputations – Partnerships are built with schools and organisations that garner community respect. Rotary is the major partner of The National Youth Science Forum. But the major funding partner is Lockheed Martin. The event exposes students to various career pathways in science. Rotary never mentions Lockheed Martin’s dominant influence in the program or as the world’s number one weapons manufacturer or its significant role in producing nuclear weapons and stoking political violence.
Erasing Ethics – There is a failure to address or even mention the ethics of weapons or warfare. There might be the pretence of talking about the ethics of AI, but no discussion about the ethics of “a future [in which] employees have eliminated the need for human involvement in the ‘kill chain’ by creating autonomous robotic devices to make those decisions”. #Ethics
Repurposing Institutions – The curriculum material of STEM itself is repurposed for the needs of the weapons industry. STEM comes to stand for the ‘future’ of education. The policy focus and funding of weapons-STEM comes at the expense of the natural sciences, energy and humanities-arts. Education policy preferences STEM over everything else. The infiltration is evidenced in the “Workforce Strategic Vision” which is underpinned by STEM and subtitled “Moving towards a high-tech future for Defence”. #StateCapture
Fake Academia – ‘Research and educational partnerships’ are formed with universities. Australia has several private weapons development labs situated in universities. The Boeing Institute at UQ, Lockheed’s Stellr Lab, or the Defence and Security research programs at Deakin University with companies like Lockheed Martin, Hanwha and General Dynamics. #FauxAcademy
All this so the corporations can keep #MakingAKilling.
#DemilitariseSTEM #SkillingNotKilling #EarthcareNotWarfare
Further Reading
For more information see the Wage Peace briefing report HERE
Medical Association for the Prevention of War “Minors and Missiles” report HERE
Read and share some more articles on the topic HERE
Get Involved:
- Draw on Wage Peace’s resources and support to organise actions to name and shame your local arms dealers – get in touch here or by emailing info@wagepeaceau.org
- Write to your local school to ask if they are utilising any programs or educational material produced or promoted by defence corporations. If they are, tell us about it so we can add it to our growing database
- Write to your state MP and/or your state’s Minister for Education demanding a prohibition on schools forming commercial relationships with defence companies in Department policy.
- Platform positive alternatives, such as programs centered around renewable energy technologies, sustainable agriculture, ecological sciences, health and biomedical fields, and other life affirming applications of STEM skills. Tell us about your local hero stories so we can platform them too!
- Sign up to our mailing list to receive campaign updates, news, and calls to action
However and wherever you can,
#Demilitarise
#Decolonise
#Regenerate
And remember you are loved.