Federal, State and Territory Education Ministers have agreed to a raft of new reforms aimed at reducing dependency on screens, improving student outcomes and tackling antisemitism in schools.
The Education Ministers Meeting this week resulted in an agreement by the Ministers for curriculum reform to strengthen the teaching of Australian maths and financial literacy and antisemitism, as well as looking at making civics compulsory in Years 9 and 10; and the establishment of a Teaching and Learning Commission.
“We have signed long-term agreements with every state and territory to fix the funding of our public schools,” Federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, said in a statement today. “That funding is tied to reforms that we know work: things like phonics and phonics checks, numeracy checks and small group tutoring.”
Clare said the reforms include a “digital detox” to reduce screen time in schools, as well as restrictions on the use of AI at primary school and high school.
“We heard the story from one Minister on Monday about teachers standing at the back of classrooms now so they can keep an eye on what's on the screen that kids have, to make sure that they're focused on the lesson, not looking at something else,” Clare told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
Clare said while some states have already acted to limit screentime, all jurisdictions recognise that “it has gone too far”.
“I think mums and dads know it too. They see what screens do to their kids at home. We thought school was different, that screens would help,” he said. “But more and more evidence tells us that kids who spend a lot of time on screens at school do worse than those who don't.”
Education Ministers also endorsed new resources designed by David Gonski's antisemitism education taskforce, which include more lessons about Jewish history and the contributions of Jewish Australians.
“The truth is that hate comes from fear and fear comes from ignorance, and education can't do everything here to turn that around, but it can do a lot,” Clare said.
“That's why we made the decision on Monday to improve what the curriculum has in it…in the teaching of the Holocaust, what happened, but also the causes and the consequences, and also the history of Jewish Australians, their contribution to Australia, and their culture.”
Clare said this is “just the start”.
“We also asked the body that's responsible for the curriculum, ACARA, to do more work on what we need to embed in the curriculum to tackle racism and hate in all its noxious forms.”