INCA Education around the world
Australia : Education Structure (ages 3-19)
3.1 Compulsory education
Individual State/Territory legislation normally requires all children between the ages of 6 and 15 (6 and 17 in Queensland; 5 and 17 in Tasmania 2) to attend either a government school or some other educational programme approved by the Government. 6 However, although education is compulsory for these periods, schooling is not.14
Home education
Parents may apply for approval to educate their children at home.6 This approval is usually granted by the Education Departments in the various States and Territories to a small proportion of parents or communities.14
In Queensland, the Education (General Provisions) Act 19891 includes guidelines in respect of facilities for and instruction in pre-school, primary, secondary or special education for non-government schools and .... home-schooling.4
In Tasmania, home education is a legally supported alternative to enrolment at school, provided that the parent is registered as a home educator in respect of that child. This means that the parent meets the requirements for undertaking home education, as described in the policy statement on home education.33
Tasmanian Open Learning Service School (TOLSS)
This is a government-funded Kindergarten (age 4/5+) to Year 10 (age 15-16) school, which provides a teaching and learning programme across the eight Key Learning Areas of the curriculum (the arts, English, health and physical education, languages other than English [LOTE], mathematics, science, studies of society and the environment [SOSE], and technology), based on the national Statements and Profiles. The education programme is delivered in a variety of ways, including teacher home visits, regular telephone contact, mail and activity days (which are regularly held in regional centres). The content of the learning programme is negotiated by teachers, parents and students and, wherever possible, parents take an active role. Learning materials include print-based items, videos, audio tapes, computer disks and commercially-produced materials. Students are able to link with their teacher using e-mail and the Internet.18
Students may enrol in the TOLSS on the basis of the following criteria:
- Isolation
- Medical
- Pregnancy
- Travel
- Exceptional circumstances 18
