Australia's push to curb classroom screen time risks overlooking the cognitive fundamentals behind literacy and numeracy gaps, according to a CQUniversity researcher.
The comments from educational neuroscientist Professor Ken Purnell follow Australia's lowest-ever maths and reading scores in the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Despite the decline, Australia remained above the OECD average in all three domains: 509 in science (OECD average 482), 491 in reading (OECD average 461) and 478 in maths (OECD average 463), according to ACER.
The results have triggered renewed debate around the use of digital technologies in Australia's classrooms.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has backed a "digital detox" in classrooms, saying TIMSS, PIRLS and previous PISA rounds show that "students who use screens a lot score lower than those who don’t."
State governments are already acting, with the NSW Government announcing this week that it will cap public school students’ screentime use at 15-minutes a day in a bid to address a “worrying trend” of declining student learning outcomes.
This follows a similar move by the Victorian Government, which is abolishing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs in its primary schools and limiting screen use to 90 minutes per day for Years 3 to 6 from January. Then-premier Jacinta Allan launched the policy in July, saying, "Less time on devices means more time learning."
Foundations before devices
Professor Purnell said the reform debate should center on how learning occurs rather than on device use alone.
"You can't build a skyscraper on foundations that aren't secure," he said. "Literacy and numeracy are the foundations that allow students to tackle increasingly complex learning."
Professor Purnell said that when those foundations are secure, working memory is freed up for higher-order thinking.
"When they aren't, students can spend all their cognitive effort trying to understand the basics rather than thinking about the bigger problem," he said, adding that the real question is not whether technology belongs in classrooms, but whether it is helping the brain learn or getting in the way of learning.
"This isn't a battle between pencils and laptops. It is about putting learning first."
On assessment, Professor Purnell said early identification of learning gaps must be paired with intervention.
"Screening without effective intervention is simply finding a problem and then leaving the child with it," he said. "The real value of early assessment is that it tells us what the next learning goal should be and gives teachers the opportunity to act before a small gap becomes a large one."
He pointed out that additional time alone does not necessarily constitute support.
"Extra time isn't an intervention. Students need explicit teaching, guided practice, useful feedback and repeated opportunities to experience success," he said.
In a bid to lift student achievement in the core disciolines, the Federal Government has committed to Year 1 phonics and numeracy checks and is considering changes to the early years of the mathematics curriculum.
But Professor Purnell said curriculum overload only compounds the problem.
"When too much is taught too quickly, students don't have enough time to practise, retrieve and consolidate knowledge," he said. "Learning is a marathon, not a sprint. Covering more content does not necessarily mean learning more."
Professor Purnell said reform should draw on teacher expertise.
"The people closest to students need to help shape the response," he said, adding that reducing administrative workload would let teachers focus on direct instruction.
Professor Purnell said the ultimate measure of reform is student outcomes.
"The true test of school reform is remarkably simple: are more students understanding more, remembering more and becoming increasingly independent learners? And perhaps just as importantly, are they enjoying learning?"