Screen limits coming to Hawkesbury classrooms
HAWKESBURY public school students will spend less classroom time on laptops and tablets under new NSW Government limits designed to reduce digital distractions and strengthen reading, writing and learning outcomes.
From Term 1, 2027, public schools across the Hawkesbury and NSW will begin introducing daily limits on individual student device use, with the guidelines becoming mandatory in 2028.
Kindergarten to Year 2 students will be limited to 15 minutes a day on laptops, tablets or desktop computers, increasing to 30 minutes for Years 3 and 4 and 45 minutes for Years 5 and 6.
For Years 7 to 10, individual screen use will be limited to one-quarter of lesson time per subject across the week, while Years 11 and 12 will have a maximum of half their subject time.
Public preschools will have no individual student device use.
Schools will also be encouraged to provide at least one hour each day of learning using pen and paper. Digital devices will not be recommended for homework before Year 5.
The changes could have a significant impact on classroom practices across Hawkesbury primary and secondary schools as teachers increasingly balance traditional learning methods with digital resources.
The Government says Australian students are almost twice as likely as the OECD average to spend more than two hours a day using digital devices for learning, while reading and writing results have declined, particularly among 12 to 15-year-olds.
Government-funded research also found half of surveyed students reported being distracted by screens in class.
Education Minister Prue Car said technology would remain important, but should not become the default teaching method.
“An entire generation of students are increasingly living in an online world,” Ms Car said.
“We have a responsibility to ensure their health and education isn’t adversely affected by excessive screen use.”
Digital literacy will remain part of the curriculum, while exemptions will apply for students with disability, additional needs, English-language requirements or personalised learning plans.
The initiative follows the 2023 public school mobile phone ban and new restrictions on take-home HSC assessments aimed at limiting inappropriate use of artificial intelligence.
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