Every high school would have to employ science and maths teachers who have studied those subjects at a university level, under a new Federal Government plan to be announced today.

Key points: One in five Year 7 to 10 general science teachers in 2013 had not completed even a year of university study in that area

One in five Year 7 to 10 general science teachers in 2013 had not completed even a year of university study in that area Education Minister Simon Birmingham says he hopes it will encourage more people to become skilled in STEM

Education Minister Simon Birmingham says he hopes it will encourage more people to become skilled in STEM The proposal requires the support of the states to make it a reality

The Government said at the moment, not enough teachers were knowledgeable and passionate about the topics.

For example, it said around one in five year 7 to 10 general science teachers in 2013 had not completed even a year of university study in that area.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said he hoped the move would in turn encourage more high schoolers to take maths and science classes.

"It's not just about knowledge of content," Senator Birmingham said.

"It's also about ensuring students are inspired to stick with maths, to stick with the sciences, so that they continue right through their schooling years and hopefully into further studies to give us more skilled scientists and more people skilled in the STEM disciplines."

It comes after a report by Australia's Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, found the number of students choosing to take science had dropped from 55 per cent in 2002 to 51 per cent in 2013.

The number of overall maths students was steady at 72 per cent. But the report said that was because pupils were moving towards easier level maths.

Sorry, this video has expired Education Minister says states should create incentives for students to specialise in STEM subjects

Intermediate and advanced maths declined from 54 per cent in 1992 to 36 per cent in 2012.

Senator Birmingham said he hoped that by bringing in more highly-qualified teachers, that could turn around.

Because teachers are employed at a state and territory level, the Government will need the support of the states to make this plan a reality.

It is also hoping they will put pressure on universities to get more people to study physics, chemistry, biology, technology or maths.

But if that did not work, Senator Birmingham said the Government could use its funding agreements with universities to apply some additional pressure.

"Right now they give them great degrees of autonomy and I'm sure that that's the way it will stay in the future," Senator Birmingham said.

"But if we didn't see the type of focus on training the future teachers we need, there would be those levers that the Government could use."

Jenni Webber from the Australian Science Teacher's Association said the organisation welcomed the move.

But she acknowledged attracting the right people — who were knowledgeable but also patient enough to work with young people — could be a challenge.

"That's going to be a tricky one," she said.

"I suppose the challenge will be enticing people into a career that doesn't always sound that fabulous, but once you get in there, it's amazing."

Ms Webber said she would also like to see this extended to try to boost the number of more highly-qualified science and maths teachers in primary schools.

"That's where students' passion begins," she said.

"If we don't hook them in those early years, it's very difficult to get them excited about science, maths and STEM later on."