Interview - Sunrise

NATALIE BARR: Educators are calling for a faster overhaul of our classrooms after it was revealed Australian students recorded their worst-ever reading and maths results as part of a major global assessment. The decline is also being seen around the world, with digital distractions being blamed for the downfall. Australia still performs above the average, but our discipline remains among the worst of any country in the world. Joining us now is Education Minister Jason Clare. Good morning to you.

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: G’day, Nat

NATALIE BARR: Australian teenagers, two years behind those who sat the test two decades ago. Is our education system sending them backwards?

CLARE: Well, if you have a look at this, this is a test of 15-year-olds around the world. I think 91 countries. They're all seeing the same trend here. What's the common factor here? You know, I think it's this sort of stuff. If you have a look at this report that came out yesterday, it says that the more kids are on screens at school, the more likely they are to fall behind. That the more time they spend in front of a laptop or a tablet, the lower their results are. And so I think that tells us that we need a digital detox in our schools.

BARR: Okay.

CLARE: New York has just announced, Nat, that they're going to ban AI from primary schools. The Trump Administration has just said to schools across the nation that they need to use tech in schools for a purpose. Not all the time. Victoria has just announced that they're going to limit screen time in primary schools to 90 minutes a day and high schools to two hours a day. So, this is coming, and I'm going to put this on the agenda when Education Ministers meet in a couple of weeks’ time here because I think the evidence is in; we need a digital detox in our schools.

BARR: OK. Because we're not talking about banning phones, are we? Because that's banned in a lot of states.

CLARE: That's already happened.

BARR: You're talking about laptops or iPads or what? Smart boards, things that are used in the classroom?

CLARE: Not the smart board. But if you look in the average classroom today, you'll see tablets and laptops on every desk. When we were at school, there was a computer room. Now these things are everywhere at home and at school. They're not always used to learn, they're sometimes used just for entertainment as well or as a distraction in the classroom. And all of the evidence we've got, both from the results yesterday as well as other tests, is that the more kids are using computers, the lower their results are. And the other thing worth- I think everyone will know this. If you use a pen to write something down, you're more likely to remember it than if you type it down. So, there's plenty of evidence here for us to act.

BARR: Okay. Teachers also say discipline problems, and they also tell us the curriculum is stacked with stuff that shouldn't be there. That they're ticking boxes. They're doing all the management stuff.

CLARE: Yep.

BARR: Get rid of some of the paperwork.

CLARE: Yep.

BARR: Can you do that?

CLARE: So, two things. First, on discipline, if kids are mucking up, then no one learns in the classroom. So, that's why behaviour is important. Getting rid of mobile phones helped, but states are doing some good work now on increasing suspension policies for principals, as well as codes of conduct, not just for kids, but for parents, about what's expected of kids at school in terms of their behaviour. Then in terms of the curriculum, we've got to fix the curriculum, too. The Poms did this over a decade ago, and their results went up yesterday, not down. We're starting with maths because maths is sequential, and we're starting with the first three years of maths. Kindy or Reception, through to years one and two. In a couple of weeks, we'll get advice on the changes we need to make to the maths curriculum for those little kids. Just to make sure that we teach it in the right order, so they don't fall behind and never catch up. And then we'll make a decision in a couple of weeks about the next chunk of the curriculum that we need to fix.

BARR: Okay, we'll have your back because it is so important. Thank you.

CLARE: Brilliant. Thank you.