According to itypeusa, Australian schools offer high quality education that is among the best in the world. The skills and interests of the students are optimally promoted by small classes, a favorable student-teacher relationship, comprehensive extracurricular support and excellent sporting and technical facilities.
The structure of the education system is based on a three-stage model: a distinction is made between the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
As in Germany, education policy in Australia is the responsibility of the individual countries or states (Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania) and is not regulated by the federal government. This means that each state has its own curriculum, although the differences are small.
In Australia, school attendance is compulsory from 6 to 15 years old. A specialty is the Alice Springs School of the Air (ASSOA), which has been teaching students living in the outback since 1950 via radio and since the 1990’s via satellite and internet communication.
General
The most widespread school type is the government school or state school, which is under the direct supervision of the federal authority for education and training.
State schools are day schools, school hours usually start at 9 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. They do not charge school fees, or if they do, only low school fees. In addition to these state schools, there are also private schools which, regardless of church or non-church orientation, charge much higher school fees. Private schools make up about a quarter of Australian schools and are also subject to state school inspection, but they are independent in the choice of teaching staff and in the admission of students.
The non-church private schools often offer specialization in a particular subject (science, languages, etc.). For historical reasons there are numerous Catholic private schools, with many having rather low fees.
The remaining private schools are then protestant, military and grammar schools.
In addition to these types of schools, there are also schools in Australia that are based on a special educational system, such B. Montessori schools. They are run privately. Most Australian students wear uniforms , although this dress code is less strictly observed in Queensland and the Northern Territory due to the extreme climatic conditions.
The Australian school year starts in January / February and ends in December. The school year is divided into four quarters. There are always three weeks of vacation between the individual school blocks. When the school year changes, the students have six weeks vacation, as in Germany.
Primary Education
The first level of education usually consists of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten education , followed by the first six years of school. Since every state can regulate its own education policy, there are different classifications in many places: While most states already consider the kindergarten year as Year 1 and the pupils in the sixth grade are consequently in Year 7, New South Wales excludes the kindergarten time and begins Year 1 is not counted until the first year of school . A sixth (school) grade student is therefore in year 6 in this state(similar to Germany). In the coming years, however, there are plans in all states to enroll all five-year-old children in the preparatory school and thus to set uniform standards for this level.
Secondary Education
In the second level of education, primary education is followed by junior and senior secondary schools, which are generally referred to as high school. The state of Victoria introduced the designation secondary college in 1989.
The primary and junior secondary school together comprise ten school years. The pupils can then leave school to take up vocational training at a state or private vocational college (TAFE-Technical and Further Education). However, most of the students attend after the junior secondary school nor the senior secondary school , which includes the 11th and 12th school year and which, after successful completion (matriculation), entitles the student to study at a university.
Again due to the different skills in the education sector, the states have different indices by which the eligibility for admission to higher education is measured. In each state there are therefore different final exams, the results of which are however transferrable throughout the country, so that the students can demonstrate comparable qualifications for a degree.
The selective government schools provoke constant discussions. These schools only accept the most gifted students, which means that schools are usually at the top of the list when comparing final exam results. To be admitted to such a school, you have to pass a difficult test be passed, which is criticized in public with regard to its difficulty sometimes as pure competition between the selective government schools.
Tertiary education
The final stage of the Australian education system is characterized by a well-structured and coordinated structure. The individual qualification levels systematically build on and complement each other. A total of twelve degrees form the so-called Australian Qualifications Framework . Each graduate of the secondary school is given an individual training path that is tailored to the respective skills due to the large selection enables. Students can build on from one level of graduation to the next without fear that the previous education would have been of no use to the next graduation goal. If the school leaver decides e.g. B. for vocational training at the University of Cooperative Education (TAFE), if he completes this and would like to go to a university afterwards, the completion of the advanced diploma will be credited to him and he can start the second year of university studies by being granted advanced standing.
This shows that the training at the vocational academy was not wasted, but actually made it easier to start studying.
The courses at Australian universities do not consist of a basic and a main course as in Germany. Undergraduate studies is the name of the first degree that leads to a Bachelor degree. Usually three to four courses are completed per semester, in which presentations are given and essays are written. There is no final examination at the end of the three to four year course. The contents of the bachelor’s degree are teaching scientific work, the acquisition of strategies and the acquisition of complex interdisciplinary relationships.
Building on the bachelor’s degree qualifying for a profession, every further course of study is called postgraduate studies or graduate studies. With the exception of the natural sciences, such a course can also be completed without a previous subject-related postgraduate course. Many students take this opportunity, e.g. B. after postgraduate studies and a few years of professional activity, to deepen your subject or to reorient your career.
The postgraduate studies build on each other in stages and begin with the graduate certificate,an intensive, professional-practical-oriented postgraduate course. It usually only lasts one semester and is used to acquire a professional specialization and additional qualification.
A similar, two-semester graduate diploma expands the qualification even more and enables the switch to a master’s program , the third level of postgraduate studies. The master’s degree usually lasts two to four semesters and requires a bachelor’s degree or several years of professional experience. The master’s degree programs are either master by coursework (courses are attended) or master by research(a research work is in the foreground) carried out.
The doctoral degree is ultimately the highest university qualification. The research to be carried out takes about three years.
It thus shows that the flexible system of recognition of academic achievements enables a large number of students to pursue their individual qualification ideas and to build on the most varied of degrees.
In an international comparison, the Australian education system offers many advantages, also for international students who can easily find a way to enter the degree program appropriate to their level of ability.
