Education in all government schools must be secular and not promote any particular religious practice, denomination or sect.
Prospective teachers must undertake a four-year undergraduate programs in either a single education degree (e.g.
VTAC which administers course entry has failed to make this change clear to applicants in 2013.
Many also include periods of professional field experience (not usually formally supervised teaching practice) in schools.
VIT is the statutory authority responsible for the regulation and promotion of the teaching profession in Victoria.
The non-government sector, which includes Catholic, private and Jewish schools, recorded steady growth since 2002, gaining more than 16,890 students in the past five years.
Due to the cost of implementing these alternative programmes they are rarely offered by government schools.
The first exposure many Australian children have to learn with others outside of traditional parenting is day care or a parent-run playgroup.
This year is far more commonly attended, and usually takes the form of a few hours of activity five days a week.
The minimum age at which a Victorian child can commence primary school education is 4.8 years.