Education system of Australia

Education system of Australia
Education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of the states and territories. Each state or territory government provides funding and regulates the public and private schools within its governing area. The federal government helps fund the public universities, but was not involved in setting university curriculum.[8] As of 2012, the Australian National Curriculum,[9] under development and trial for several years, has already been adopted by some schools and will become mandatory soon. Generally, education in Australia follows the three-tier model which includes primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (secondary schools/high schools) and tertiary education (Universities, TAFE colleges and Vocation Education and Training providers (VET providers)).The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 evaluation ranked the Australian education system as sixth for reading, eighth for science and thirteenth for mathematics, on a worldwide scale including 56 countries.[10] The PISA 2009 evaluation ranked the Australian education system as sixth for reading, seventh for science and ninth for mathematics, an improvement relative to the 2006 rankings.[11]
In 2012, education firm Pearson ranked Australian education as thirteenth in the world[12]The Education Index, published with the UN's Human Development Index in 2008, based on data from 2006, lists Australia as 0.993, amongst the highest in the world, tied for first with Denmark and Finland.[13]
Education in Australia is compulsory between the ages of five and fifteen to seventeen, depending on the state or territory, and date of birth.[14] Post-compulsory education is regulated within the Australian Qualifications Framework, a unified system of national qualifications in schools, vocational education and training (TAFE) and the higher education sector (university).
The academic year in Australia varies between states and institutions, but generally runs from late January/early February until mid-December for primary and secondary schools, with slight variations in the inter-term holidays[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] and TAFE colleges,[23][24][25] and from late February until mid-November for universities with seasonal holidays and breaks for each educational institute.[26]Pre-school and pre-prep programmes in Australia are relatively unregulated, and are not compulsory.[27] The first exposure many Australian children have to learning with others outside of traditional parenting is day care or a parent-run playgroup.[28] This sort of activity is not generally considered schooling, as pre-school education is separate from primary school in all states and territories, except Western Australia where pre-school education is taught as part of the primary school system.[29] In Queensland, pre-school programmes are often called Kindergarten or Pre-Prep, and are usually privately run but attract state government funding if run for at least 600 hours a year and delivered by a registered teacher.[30]Pre-schools are usually run by the state and territory governments, except in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales where they are more often run by local councils, community groups or private organisations.[29] Pre-school is offered to three- to five-year-olds; attendance numbers vary widely between the states, but 85.7% of children attended pre-school the year before school.[31] The year before a child is due to attend primary school is the main year for pre-school education. This year is far more commonly attended, and may take the form of a few hours of activity during weekdays.[32]
Responsibility for pre-schools in New South Wales and Victoria, lies with the Department of Education and Communities and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), respectively.[33] In all other states and territories of Australia, responsibility for pre-schools lie with the relevant education department.[29]The average net cost (taking into account the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Tax Rebate entitlements) for a long day care in Australia is $3.85 per hour,[34] or a net cost of around $46 a day for a long day care service offering 12-hour days.
School education in Australia is compulsory between certain ages as specified by state or territory legislation. Depending on the state or territory, and date of birth of the child, school is compulsory from the age of five to six to the age of fifteen to seventeen.[14] In recent years, over three quarters of students stay at school until they are seventeen. Government schools educate approximately 65% of Australian students, with approximately 34% in Catholic and independent schools.[5] A small portion of students are legally home-schooled, particularly in rural areas.[35]
Government schools (also known as public schools) are free to attend for Australian citizens and permanent residents, while Catholic and independent schools usually charge attendance fees.[36] However in addition to attendance fees; stationery, textbooks, uniforms, school camps and other schooling costs are not covered under government funding. The additional cost for schooling has been estimated to be on average $316 per year per child. Regardless of whether a school is part of the Government, Catholic or independent systems, they are required to adhere to the same curriculum frameworks of their state or territory. The curriculum framework however provides for some flexibility in the syllabus, so that subjects such asreligious education can be taught. Most school students wear uniforms,[39] although there are varying expectations and some Australian schools do not require uniforms. A common movement among secondary schools to support student voice has taken form as organisations such asVicSRC in Victoria bring together student leaders to promote school improvement.
Catholic and Independent schools[edit]
See also: Public and private education in Australia, Catholic education in Australia, and Anglican education in Australia
In 2010 66% of students in Australia attended government schools, 20% attended Catholic schools and 14% attended independent schools.[40]In 2000 these figures were 69%, 20% and 11% respectively.
Most Catholic schools are either run by their local parish, local diocese and their state's Catholic education department.[41][42] independent schools include schools operated by secular educational philosophies such as Montessori, however, the majority of independent schools are religious, being Protestant, Jewish, Islamic or non-denominational.[43]
Some Catholic and independent schools charge high fees, and because of this Government funding for these schools is often criticised by theAustralian Education Union and the Greens.[44][45]
Common ages[edit]
Students may be slightly younger or older than stated below, due to variation between states and territories. The name for the first year of primary school varies considerably between states and territories, e.g. what is known as kindergarten in ACT and NSW may mean the year preceding the first year of primary school or preschool in other states and territories.[46][47][48][49][50] Some states vary in whether Year 7 is part of the primary or secondary years,[51] as well as the existence of a middle school system.