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Every Australian student will have been through the education system in their country, but for students who have come from overseas, it can be confusing. This education essay will run through the Australian education system, and how it works.

We are continually striving to improve the sphere of education – from the information available to the accessibility and dissemination of that information – with the hopes that each new crop of students and each generation will have a better and more valuable learning experience than those before them.

In recent years, an increasing emphasis has been put on pursuing higher education, pushing Australian youth to arm themselves with a degree in their field. With this tool at their side, the promise of a fulfilling job in their field seemed all but guaranteed. But, students are quickly learning that simply having a degree is far from enough to push them above the crowd in the working world of Australia. With an overabundance of degree holding job seekers, employers are searching for other qualities and qualifications to help set candidates apart from the rest, and determine who the most qualified truly are.

Finding that ideal balance between school and life can sometimes be challenging for students. But, it's an essential component if you're hoping to get through the stress and overwhelming years of schooling with your head still firmly planted on your shoulders. Leaning too much in either direction can send you off-kilter in your college years, but when balance is achieved, you can reap the benefits that a healthy work and social life can bring.

We all know what our favourite websites host now, thanks to the way we're always online nowadays. However, look back just ten years ago, and the internet was a very different place. We rarely shopped online, ordered our taxis on the phone, and had barely heard of the term 'social media'. Curious to see what your favourite sites looked like back in the internet's infancy?

The pressures to achieve high levels of academic success are destroying children’s ability to enjoy their education and making them anxious and depressed.
All types of testing and judgement paralyse these children with anxiety, driving them to avoid attending school at all if they can avoid it. Truancy rates are being driven up and up, not by young delinquents who are trying to be deliberately disruptive to their education and that of others, but by children so afraid to deal with the pressure that is being put on them that they would rather risk suspension, expulsion and arrest.

The new measures introduced by the Labour federal government in 2010 intending to bring the education system more in line with private business values has imported one of private businesses biggest problems. More than half of all the teaching and research staff in Australia’s public universities are now employed on hourly contracts. Instead of having a dedicated team of staff, universities now hire on a semester to semester basis, only informing their “casual” staff whether their services will be required during the first week of that semester.

The Learning Impact Fund is a recent initiative designed to identify, evaluate and adjust the scale of funding for effective education programs in Australia. While much of this seems like business as usual, this particular fund has earmarked a significant portion of it $1 million budget for seeking out programs to improve the “emotional resilience” of students.