Education
Australia assigns a high level of priority to education.The country has a complete and well⁃developed educational system that covers the full range of instruction from elementary schooling to higher learning.The government provides a broad range of subsidies and financial support to enable schools to stay up to date.
Broadly speaking，Australian education is run by the state governments.The federal government’s role consists of making policy and providing funding.Each state has a department of education which oversees the sector within its territory.
Primary and secondary education are compulsory，and are conducted in both public and private schools.Public schools are financed by the government and are free of tuition fees，while private schools rely mainly on tuition fees and usually charge very high tuition fees.Australia 6，743 government schools（71％），1，708 Catholic schools（18％），and 1，017 Independent schools（11％）.
Most of the children start attending preparatory schools at the age of five.At six，they enter elementary or primary schools where they will stay for six or seven years，depending on which state they are in，before going to secondary schools.The six⁃year system is adopted in New South Wales，Victoria，Tasmania，and Canberra，while the seven⁃year system applies to Queensland，Southern Australia，Western Australia and the Northern Territory.The core curriculum of primary schools comprises such courses as English，math，basic science，music，art，religion，handwork，foreign languages and sports.
Secondary education usually starts at age 12 and lasts for five or six years.As with primary schools，different states have different regulations with regard to the number of years children attend secondary school.In states where seven⁃year primary schooling is adopted，secondary education will last for five years，while for those states which adopt the six⁃year system for primary education，secondary education is also six years long.In both cases，the total length of school education adds up to 12 years.
The curriculum of secondary schools，in addition to a generally carrying forward the studies begun in primary school，also contains more technical training programs and interest⁃based optional courses.
After graduation from secondary school at the age of 18，students can choose to work or to attend a college or university.Those who decide to work can still receive further education in technical and further education colleges in the future when they feel there is a need to do so.There are about 300 such colleges in the country which offer courses of a highly practical nature，such as international trade，accounting，office management，business administration，tourism，hotel management，and information technology.
Apart from such further education colleges，Australia has 43 universities（including 40 public universities，two international universities，and one private university）.These institutions offer a much wider range of courses than technical colleges，and confer degrees from Bachelor’s to Doctorate.The best⁃known of these universities include the University of Sydney，the University of Melbourne，Griffith University，the University of Tasmania，the University of Queensland，Murdoch University，the University of Western Australia，the Australian National University and the University of New South Wales.The first two，founded in 1851 and 1853 respectively，are the oldest Australian universities.
Generally speaking，it takes three years to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Australian universities，one and a half or two years for a Master’s and three years for a doctorate.However，some subjects，such as medicine，require longer times to get any degree.
University students can choose one of two ways to pay for their education：they can either pay the full amount up front or else or apply for government loans，which they can pay back after they graduate and find a job.
Australia’s international education programs are also well⁃developed.The Australian International Education Foundation has established offices in 38 countries providing services to international students who wish to study in Australian universities.Eight such offices are located in Asia.Some international students’expenses are fully covered by the Australian government，while others have only partial support from the Australian government，and the remainder who rely entirely on their own resources for all tuition costs.