Canberra - Education

Education

Main article: Education in the Australian Capital Territory

The two main tertiary institutions are the Australian National University (ANU) in Acton and the University of Canberra (UC) in Bruce, with over 10,500 and 8,000 full-time-equivalent students respectively. Established in 1946, the ANU has always had a strong research focus and is ranked among the leading universities in the world and the best in Australia by The Times Higher Education Supplement and the Shanghai Jiao Tong World University Rankings. There are two religious university campuses in Canberra: Signadou in the northern suburb of Watson is a campus of the Australian Catholic University; St Mark's Theological College in Barton is part of the secular Charles Sturt University.

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon are located in the inner-northern suburb of Campbell. ADFA teaches military undergraduates and postgraduates and is a campus of the University of New South Wales; Duntroon provides Australian Army officer training. Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the multi-campus Canberra Institute of Technology.

In February 2004 there were 140 schools in Canberra; 96 were operated by the government and 44 were private. During 2006, the ACT Government announced closures of up to 39 schools, to take effect from the end of the school year, and after a series of consultations unveiled its Towards 2020: Renewing Our Schools policy. As a result, some schools closed during the 2006–08 period, while others were merged; the creation of combined primary and secondary government schools will proceed over the next decade. The new policy has provoked significant opposition. Most suburbs are planned to include a primary and a nearby preschool; these are usually located near open areas where recreational and sporting activities are easily available.