Editing South Australia (section)

===Primary and secondary===
{{See also|List of schools in South Australia}}

On 1 January 2009, the school leaving age was raised to 17 (having previously been 15 and then 16).<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19215505-1246,00.html |access-date=28 May 2006 |publisher=[[News Corp (2013–present)|News Corp]] |work=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |date=22 May 2006 |title=School leaving age to be raised |first=Michael |last=Owen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914172408/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C19215505-1246%2C00.html |archive-date=14 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Education is compulsory for all children until age 17, unless they are working or undergoing other training. The majority of students stay on to complete their [[South Australian Certificate of Education]] (SACE). School education is the responsibility of the South Australian government, but the public and private education systems are funded jointly by it and the [[Government of Australia|Commonwealth Government]].

The South Australian Government provides, to schools on a per student basis, 89% of the total Government funding while the Commonwealth contributes 11%. Since the early 1970s, it has been an ongoing controversy<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Debates/ReidPaper.html |title = The Redefinition of Public Education |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215174248/http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Debates/ReidPaper.html |archive-date = 15 February 2008 |access-date =12 July 2010}}</ref> that 68% of Commonwealth funding (increasing to 75% by 2008) goes to private schools that are attended by 32% of the states students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/anr2008/ch2_student.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016092136/http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/anr2008/ch2_student.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 October 2013 |work=Ministerial Council National Report on Schooling in Australia |title=Chapter 2: Resourcing Australia's schools }}</ref> Private schools often counter this by saying that they receive less State Government funding than public schools, and in 2004 the main private school funding came from the Australian government, not the state government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2119 |title=Government funding should encourage private schools not penalise them |author=Bill Daniels |date=12 April 2004 |access-date=16 February 2010}}</ref>

On 14 June 2013, South Australia became the third Australian state to sign up to the Australian Federal Government's [[Gonski Report#Education|Gonski Reform Program]]. This will see funding for primary and secondary education to South Australia increased by $1.1&nbsp;billion before 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=South Australia signs up to Federal Government's Gonski education reforms|website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-14/sa-signs-up-to-gonski-education-reforms/4753742|date=14 June 2013}}</ref>

The academic year in South Australia generally runs from the end of January until mid-December for primary and secondary schools. The SA schools operate on a four-term basis. Schools are closed for the South Australia public holidays.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SA School Holidays, Public Holidays & School Terms 2022 - 2023 |url=https://schoolholidays.com.au/school-holiday-dates-in-sa |access-date=12 March 2022 |website=School Holidays |language=en}}</ref>