A2
School and Education
Country Profile
Profile on Australia Warm up
1 What do you know about Australia? Do some research on the Net and complete the fact file.
Fact file
Capital City: ......................................... Other important cites: 1.................. 2.................. 3.................. 4................................ 5 .....................
Population: ................................... million Currency: .............................................
Head of State: ....................................... Discovered in: .......................................
Indigenous people: ................................. Some famous Australians: .........................
The school of the air
Australia is a huge* country with many remote areas where just a few people live. The majority of Australians live in the cities along the coast but some live in the ‘outback*’ in the middle of the country. In these places, it takes a long time to travel from one place to another and transport and facilities aren’t as developed as in the big cities. So how do people live there? And what about children? How do they get to school? Well, the answer is they don’t. Many kids follow lessons from home by using radio and even computer.
Reading
2 Read about the development of this very important educational service and put the events in the correct order.
1
a
Today, many teachers use a video camera and an electronic whiteboard and their lessons are broadcasted by satellite. Students can email their teachers, interact with the whiteboard, answer pop-up questions and participate in class discussions.
b
Before the service was introduced children had to attend boarding school or receive their lessons by post.
c
In 1928 the Royal Flying Doctor Service was introduced for people in remote areas to receive medical treatment.