From the Guardian · · 1m 30s
NSW puts a clock on classroom screens
From 2028, NSW public schools will cap device time by year group and hand kids back a pen for an hour a day.
In brief
From 2028, NSW public schools will cap device time by year group and hand kids back a pen for an hour a day. NSW is treating screen time in class as something to ration by year group, with an hour of handwriting a day as the counterweight. Originally reported by the Guardian.
NSW caps classroom screens
The New South Wales government will limit how long public school students spend on devices in class, and push daily pen and paper work alongside it.
Youngest get 15 minutes
Kindergarten to Year 2 students are held to 15 minutes a day on a tablet or laptop. Years 3 and 4 get 30 minutes, Years 5 and 6 get 45.
High school counts by subject
Years 7 to 10 can use personal devices for a quarter of subject time. Senior students get up to half. Homework guidelines advise no screen use below Year 5.
An hour with a pen
Guidelines will recommend at least one hour a day of pen and paper learning. The rules are advisory next year and mandatory across NSW schools from 2028.
“a minimum of one hour a day”
Why now
Education minister Prue Car points to research showing students on screens up to seven hours a day, and says the phone ban already cut classroom distraction.
“we are seeing reading and writing skills go backwards for a whole generation of children”
Part of a wider push
Victoria announced something similar and federal minister Jason Clare has floated a digital detox. The state's chief paediatrician backed the move; digital literacy stays in the curriculum.
The main idea
NSW is treating screen time in class as something to ration by year group, with an hour of handwriting a day as the counterweight.
