Queensland has agreed to consider reducing screen time in schools but will "review what the Commonwealth presents and continue our discussions with Queensland families", Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said after a meeting of state and federal education ministers, Brisbane Times reported. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said every state minister had agreed to "set or consider" screen-time limits and artificial intelligence bans in schools.
"It's clear more work needs to be done around the impacts of screen time," Langbroek said. Queensland schools, including state schools, are largely free from state interference when deciding how technology appears in the classroom, subject to minimum digital and technology literacy requirements, Brisbane Times reported. The state also introduced a purpose-built AI assistant into Year 9 and 10 state school classrooms this year, with plans to extend the technology.
Digital Detox Taskforce
In a media release dated Thursday (5 November), Clare said education ministers had agreed to a digital detox in Australian schools. "The evidence is showing us that the more time kids spend online the more likely it is that their results decline," the release said. Ministers also agreed to restrict the use of generative artificial intelligence in primary schools and secondary school assessments.
A new Australian Schools Digital Detox Taskforce will collect the evidence, survey students, teachers and parents, and advise on what further action to take next year, according to the release. Ministers also agreed to establish a new Teaching and Learning Commission that would merge four existing education bodies and be responsible for the national curriculum, teacher standards, national testing and research on evidence-based teaching, the ABC reported.
Early Years Mathematics Curriculum
Education ministers have endorsed changes to the Foundation to Year 2 Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) said. The changes introduce fractions in Year 1 rather than Year 2, require recall of addition and subtraction facts up to 10 in Year 1, strengthen multiplication content in Year 2 and add content on consumer and financial literacy, including the value of money and simple transactions.
"We've listened to teachers and made the curriculum clearer and more practical, removing ambiguity and strengthening the sequencing of mathematical concepts so teachers know what students need to learn, and when," ACARA chief executive Stephen Gniel said. "Ultimately, these changes are about giving every child the strongest possible start in mathematics, while supporting teachers with a clearer and more practical curriculum."
ACARA said the changes followed extensive consultation with state and territory education authorities, teachers and curriculum experts, and Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers chief executive Allan Dougan welcomed them. The revised curriculum will be published on the Australian Curriculum website before the end of November, and ministers have tasked ACARA with extending the review to Years 3 to 6. Brisbane Times reported the curriculum changes could be rolled out in Queensland as early as next year.
Technology in Maths Learning
Gniel said the aim was to prioritise mathematical content, although that did not rule out the "purposeful use" of digital devices, Brisbane Times reported. Brisbane-based mathematics education researcher Professor Vince Geiger, from the Australian Catholic University, said technology could help link maths learning to real-world scenarios, even in primary school.
"There's actually a lot of really important uses and opportunities there for kids to learn maths in a deeper and richer way," Geiger said. "How do kids understand what money is like, and how to use money when we don't have coins anymore?" He said a focus on "the basics" also ran the risk of disengaging students.