Indian-origin teacher in Australia, Veena Nair has been awarded the 2022 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Secondary Science Teaching.
Melbourne-based, the Head of Technology and STEAM project leader at ViewBank College, Veena Nair, has received recognition for her work in showcasing students how to apply STEAM in real-world settings and how their abilities can have a positive impact on society.
A video message from Nair stated, “To be recognised in the Prime Minister’s prizes for science, I am deeply humbled. I am very grateful to my school, to my colleagues, to my students, and to my family”.
Veena said, “Many people know about STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths, but STEAM with an A, which is for Art. Art brings in out-of-the-box thinking, and it brings in creativity because students need steam skills to innovate, to become resilient and to take risks”.
Veena has more than 20 years of experience teaching science-based curricula all around India, the United Arab Emirates, and now Australia as a pioneering STEAM educator. In particular, young women and students from diverse backgrounds now obtain more first-round offers to study engineering and technology at universities because of her work.
She started her teaching career in Mumbai, where she taught pupils how to code and gave computers to schools with low socioeconomic status. Students from Veena’s class take part in the Swinburne Youth Space Innovation Challenge, a 10-week initiative that challenges secondary students to design the best experiment for launch into space.
The winning entry is subsequently delivered to the International Space Station. She also supports the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet programme, a STEM-based entrepreneurship development programme that allows students the chance to get involved with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and become global changemakers.
She oversaw a group of Australian educators who were working with teachers in Mumbai’s low socioeconomic schools to deliver STEAM programmes.
Veena holds a B.Sc. in Physics, a B.Ed in Science and Mathematics, and an M.Ed in Mathematics Education, all from the University of Mumbai. In 2018, the Design and Technology Teachers’ Association of Australia presented her with the Educator of the Year Award.
Twelve (12) of the top scientists, innovators, and science teachers in the nation are honoured each year for their contributions. When the Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic called Veena Nair recently, she assumed it was a scam call.
She chuckled, “Ultimately when I did call him back, I did so thinking he was following up on something I wrote on LinkedIn, where I’m very active”.
All she could utter when he informed her that she had been selected for the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science this year was, “Are you sure?”
