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Published: April 10th 2011
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Aussie Geography
Perhaps this illuminates why I got annoyed with [certain people] who frantically called to ask it I was okay during the fires in Perth. Australian Geography
Australia is a big continent! It looks small on most maps because of the effect of transposing a circular surface onto a flat surface. The area of the continental U.S. and that of Australia is roughly the same, yet Australia is only divided into six States and two Territories. The State I spent the majority of my time, Queensland, stretches from N.C. to Canada, and inwards to Kansas City! However, Australia only has 20 million people (compared to 300 million in the U.S.), and only about 40 Universities (http://www.australian-universities.com/list/). North Carolina alone has about as many Universities (http://www.ibiblio.org/nc/nccollege.html) and that is excluding community colleges.
Primary Education
Education in the States and Australia is similar with a few key differences.
One is language. "Kindergarten" in the States is the equivalent of "Prep" in Australia, and Australia's "Kindergarten" is the equivalent of the States' "Pre-School." Other than that, both systems have grades 1 to 12, as well as a mandatory pre-year one "grade." The use of the terms "freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior" for secondary and post secondary grades are not used in Australia.
Australians also start school at age 4, and
Electrician
Chances are this electrician bypassed University and gained employment through a TAFE apprenticeship. thus graduate at age 17. Unlike the States, where the majority of graduating high school students and first year Uni students are legal adults (18 for both countries), most Australians are not legal adults when they graduate secondary school.
Post Secondary Education
Australia has two post secondary options; Training and Further Education (TAFE) and University. TAFE is an apprenticeship program where TAFE students get on the job training, and take a few specialized courses, to gain certification. While an apprentice employees are paid less, but recieve training from the company. Companies like this because its cheap labor, and employees like this because it's a decent paying option towards a respectable career path directly from high school. An electrician for example, would likely bypass Uni and go straight into job training through TAFE. Once out of the program, most are immediately hired, which likely lends to Australia's ultra low unemployment rate (currently 4.4%!c(MISSING)ompared to the U.S. at 8.8%!)(MISSING). Personally, I wish the U.S. had a national program like this, where young people had viable career path options that did not involve getting an Associate's or Bachelor's Degree.
The University system is also pretty different from that of the States. Degree lengths differ by department for example (a B.S. in biology is 3 years, where as an Engineering Degree is 4 years) and students only take courses within their major. People also enter straight into law, medicine, dentistry, and other professional degrees directly from high school. However, prospective students apply directly to the department at university (unlike the States), and must have a minimum "OP" score (think SAT) that's relatively high compared to other departments. For example, in five years, at the age of 22, an Australian can graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Dental Surgery and begin practicing dentistry (http://www.dentalsurgery.com.au/articles/how-to-become-a-dentist/). This is highly streamlined compared to the U.S. version, where you must earn a four year B.S. in a science (usually biology), take the dental admission test, then apply to an accredited dentistry school, then complete another four years of school, and finally take the National Board Dental Examination to be a licensed dentist. Prospective Lawyers and Doctors of Medicine have similar, lengthy, career paths in the States.
At first, the idea of a 22 year old Dentist frightened me. But then I began to think - why do I feel that way? What is the justification for the States requiring so much more schooling before these professionals can begin their careers? Have I just bought into the American System? Maybe we don't need to require our professionals to get a B.S. before going directly into their specialized training? If it works in Australia why can't it work in the States?
I remember many of my "pre-med" and "pre-dentistry" friends complaining about the irrelevance of their B.S. degrees during undergrad - seeing them as a hoop to jump through. I use to think it was an important step along a professional career path. Now I wonder - is it a necessary hurdle?
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