Educational System of AUSTRALIA was being shared to us by one of the great, successful and productive PRINCIPALS’ of Camiguin Island, the ever smiling and humorous lady in the person of Ma’am LINDA D. SAAB.
Before she does her sharing, she showed to us the history of AUSTRALIA in a form of video presentation. And as she goes over to her sharing and reporting she did mention the following:
The Educational System in Australia Consists of a total of 12 years. Primary and High Schools are based on the age of the students, so that every room has the same age group, with a student hardly having to repeat a year. The students with problems in their studies may be put into special classes to help with academic deficits. The majority of the children start in the primary school with the age of 5 years (year 1) and the child studies in the primary school until they are around 12 years old (year 7).
Primary and Secondary Schools of Australia
There are many types of education for children up to 5 years, but the main ones are the “Child Care” regulated centers or families in registered residences who take care of the kids in a system called “Family Day Care”.
High School The students goes for secondary school with 12/13 years (year 8), and he/she is only compulsorily required to stay to year 10, receiving a junior high school certificate but not a high school certificate. The year 11 (15/16 YO) and 12 (16/17 YO), are optional but are required to be successfully completed to attain a high school diploma. Some of the options of the students leaving the school in year 10 include training – apprenticeship, to enter the work force or to study in any vocational course.
Year 11 and 12 • The results of the last two years of high school are the most important ones, as they are the ones to be evaluated for the entry levels in Universities. The results which the student achieve for each subject (compared to the rest of the students) will then give him/her a rank.
• The board of secondary studies then calculates an “OP” score (overall position) using a formula of the high schools results and a test which is taken by every year 12 in the state, which is used to compare students (schools) of the same year level between schools.
• The last 2 years is where students begin to guide their education towards their chosen professions. The students will choose what to study depending on the career in which they intent to follow.
• For international students, there are options with easier level subjects inside the curriculum. There is the easy level English, the easy mathematics etc, and they are the options of the students not going to apply for an academic career in a university course.
• In general the subjects are divided in letters such a Math’s type A, B, C or names such as Board English (harder one) and English Communication (easier one).
Timetable • The schedule of the lessons is Monday to Friday, from 8:45 am to 3:00pm, with of course breaks during snacks and lunch time. Extra Curricular activities such as soccer practice, dance classes, etc. is done after school hours or Saturday mornings.
Transport • The government schools offer subsidized public transport if necessary but most of the students who are enrolled in the school, usually live around the geographic area limit of n school and are able to go walking or by bicycle.
School year Calendar • Australia is in the South hemisphere; therefore the academic year coincides with the calendar year, starting in the end of January and finishing in December. The summer vacations are the biggest school holidays (period of 6/7 weeks), and during the school year there are also small breaks usually about 10 – 14 days between terms (2 terms per semester). Not all states go all holidays at the same time, for example the vacations of Queensland (one of the universities in Australia) generally begins a week before NSW which begins 1 week before the State of Victoria. This difference is most likely in place so to maximize holiday and tourists places, which would then extend for further. The timetable for school vacations are in general in April, July and September. The beginning of the holidays in public schools also differs by around 1 week from private schools.
The difference between Private and Public Schools in Australia • Private schools in general are related to a religion and usually they offer more options in music and sports. In both, all students have to use of uniforms but in the private schools the rules are more restricted about the use of a complete uniform. The educational courses and standards of all high schools are very similar and all prepare students for the same national, recognized qualifications in the country. Some schools also offer in the years 11 and 12 professional qualifications level for Certificate 2 and 3.
Technical Courses • The Certificates and Diplomas of Vocational Courses allow the students to enter and leave different levels of academic studies. The unify system of education allows the student to register for Certificate course which then after completion may give credits to Diploma courses or Degrees, in case the student continues in a University. Professional experience may also be recognized. The Technical courses are often considered a “bridge” to enter in an Australian University.
Universities • Australia has both government and private Universities that offer to programs called “ Under Graduate”, and after graduation courses called “Post Graduate or Graduate Programs”. In general the time of duration of the Graduate Certificates =6months. Master=1year, Master Honor 1.5 year, Doctorate= 2years. However these degrees are not measured by time but by subjects/courses taken, therefore depending on how may subjects/courses you are doing per semester, it may impact the time it takes to complete them. Most of these post graduate courses however, do have a time limit to complete.
Educative Credit in Universities (HECS) • For all Australian citizens, the government provides an interest loan called “HECS”, which only needs to be paid once that person is earning above a certain level ($28,000 per a). Once that person earns above that threshold then the government begins to deduct a tax or percentile from their income. Therefore Australians do not need to pay for their education until they are earning enough money. Post Graduate courses have a similar finance.
The report feeds us a lot of information specifically on the Educational System of AUSTRALIA.
The sharing was great and I’ve learned a lot from it.
That was great, informative and successful task of Ma’am Linda.
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