The Evolution of Australian Education System
Ever since the
Federation came into being in 1900, Australian education has changed radically.
There were only about 6,900 state schools at that time. Secondary schooling was
a luxury that only a selected few could afford and enrolled for. In 1910, it
was reported that girls and boys would leave the State Schools when they
reached the age of fourteen or so.
In the following years, there was a drastic evolution of education
in Australia. Today, the education system has different levels –
preschool, primary education, secondary education, tertiary education and adult
education. In 1995, The Australian Qualifications Framework was introduced
where it was emphasized that elements like vocational education, training,
higher education and school education need to be developed.
In 1966, the government
signed the Convention against Discrimination in Education to prevent
discrimination in the education sector. Its salient features are as
follows:
- It is compulsory for
kids at the age of five or six years to start their education. They need to
continue until the age of sixteen or seventeen years.
- The schools in
Australia belong to the state. 60% are state-owned schools, while the remaining
40% are non-government schools.
- Most of the
Australian universities are public with subsidized fee structure through
prepared loan programs.
- The Australian
Curriculum for primary and secondary schools – was developed in the year
2010.
- Education is the
responsibility of the state and hence is funded by the state and
territories.
The evolution of
education in Australia has been such that it now ranks the third-largest in the
world, only behind the US and UK. Australia also attracts the highest number of
students from other countries for education. As per records, in the year 2019,
about 812,000 international students enrolled in different universities and
vocation institutes in Australia.
The other aspect of the
evolution of education in Australia has been that today the country ranks
second globally on the UN’s Human Development Index.
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