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Excellence in education

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The top school leaving certificate students from every field at an annual ceremony honouring their achievements at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Diversity and quality underpin Australia’s education services, which cater for students from many backgrounds. Australian schools, universities and colleges have a strong commitment to equity, high academic standards and continuous improvement. Their focus is on excellence in teaching, research and student support.

State and territory governments largely have regulatory responsibility for education and training. They also have primary responsibility for funding the vocational and training sector, while the Australian Government assumes primary responsibility for public funding of the higher education sector.

Early, primary and secondary education

Generally, school education in Australia lasts for 13 years, comprising a preparatory year before Year 1, primary school (six years) and secondary school (six years). A preparatory preschool year is not compulsory but is almost universally undertaken. School education is compulsory until the age 15 or 16, with a number of states currently reviewing this age provision.

Approximately 3.3 million students attend 9612 schools in Australia. Of these, 72 per cent are government-funded schools, which are attended by 69 per cent of students. There are approximately 239 639 school teachers in Australia. Total public funding for all schools is around $30 billion a year.

The Australian Government has a leadership role in identifying and promoting national standards and priorities for students. Key priorities include: promoting higher standards in schooling through greater national consistency and accountability; ensuring safe and supportive school environments; and providing targeted assistance to enable equity of access.

Tertiary education

There are two types of tertiary education programs: those offered by institutions and industry in the vocational and technical education (VTE) sector; and those offered by universities and other higher education providers.

Australia’s VTE system provides individuals with the skills required in a modern economy and delivers competency-based training that is practical and career-oriented. The VTE system is highly advanced, following a decade of continuous reform. In the regulated VTE system, industry-based qualifications are delivered by registered training organisations, which include public institutions, called TAFE institutes, and private colleges. Australian VTE qualifications are designed to provide students with nationally recognised competencies that employers have identified as critical to their needs. Students achieve the qualification when they have met the set competency standards.

Australian universities have an international reputation for excellence in teaching and research, with academic staff recruited from Australia and around the world. Universities and other higher education institutions offer programs leading to bachelor and a range of postgraduate degrees, including higher degrees by research. Some universities also offer shorter undergraduate and corporate development programs. In 2005, Australian Government expenditure on all aspects of higher education was estimated at $7.8 billion, with more than 957 000 students studying at universities and other higher education institutions.

The Australian higher education sector comprises 37 public universities and two private universities, which are autonomous and self-accrediting; four other self-accrediting higher education institutions; and about 130 non-self accrediting institutions that are accredited by state and territory governments (such as theological colleges and providers specialising in professional and artistic courses of study). An American university, Carnegie Mellon, has opened a branch in Adelaide. Australian universities have campuses overseas in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Vietnam.

All Australian higher education institutions have mechanisms in place to ensure that the high quality of their courses and services is maintained at an international standard. Australian universities are established as autonomous bodies by legislation that vests responsibility for their governance in a council or senate. Non-university providers must be registered and have their courses accredited through a government agency.

Did you know?

Australia is a vast country with remote communities, grazing stations and mining sites. Children living in these areas are sometimes hundreds or thousands of kilometres from the nearest school.

The Alice Springs School of the Air, which was established in 1950, teaches about 120 students located across an area of more than one million square kilometres through a two-way radio network. Satellites, the Internet, telephone and fax are also used where available, as well as the postal service.

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