At what age chidren qualify for free schooling in OZ?

Hi,
I want to know when do children qualify for free education in Aus.?
When they turn 4 or 5?
Sumathy and Coral ,Hope u'll respond .
Thanks,
Suma.

Hi Suma
I am not sure what you mean by free education. However, i will give you info hoping that it answers your queries.
Children should have turned 5 by Jan the year they are starting school. The cut off is until April of that year. So for ex if your child was born in 2002 anywhere betweeen jan or april, they will be ready for school, in Jan 2007. The Australian schools term runs from Jan to Dec. So if your child was born after April 2002, they would start school only the year after, ie, 2008.
All state schools charge a nominal annual fee (which is reimbursed back to you on the first year of school), per year and the extras would be excursion and school levy etc. However roughly the cost per month, if you put your child in a state school would be less than $50 per month. The same goes with kidergartens (which is what your son would be starting), if they are community run, they charge very nominal term fees, which would again come to less than $50 a month. Iff you are going private kinder or schools, then it is a whole new story altogether. But my opinion is that they do not need private schools for primary kids, unless both parents are working and cannot spend quality time with their children.

Cheers
Sumathy

Originally Posted by ksrisuma

Hi,
I want to know when do children qualify for free education in Aus.?
When they turn 4 or 5?
Sumathy and Coral ,Hope u'll respond .
Thanks,
Suma.

Thnak u very much sumathy.This is exact information i'm looking for.
My child was born in March,2005.As you told he'll be eligible for kindergarten.
Good to know all this valuable info from u.
Thank u once again.

Check education details on this site----
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development - Education

A lot of info on Aussie education,work culture,shopping ,etc. is available on the net;the government/private organizations put a lot of info on the internet.Just google what you're looking for.