NSW caps classroom screen time, recommends daily pen-and-paper learning

Move follows Victoria’s announcement and federal minister’s ‘digital detox’ suggestion

The New South Wales government has announced new regulations that cap screen time in public school classrooms. Under the new regulations, Kindergarten to Year 2 students will be restricted to 15 minutes per day of learning on individual student devices such as tablets or laptops. Students in Years 3 and 4 will be allowed up to 30 minutes daily; those in Years 5 and 6 up to 45 minutes.

For high school, the limits shift to a subject-based structure. Students in Years 7 to 10 will be limited to a quarter of subject time on personal digital devices, while senior students will be allowed to use devices for up to half of their learning time.

The screen-time limits will be recommended for adoption next year and become mandatory in NSW schools from 2028, the government said.

Alongside the caps, the new guidelines will recommend “a minimum of one hour a day” be devoted to pen-and-paper learning. Separate guidelines on homework will not recommend any screen-based use for children younger than Year 5.

Prue Car, the state’s education minister, cited the government’s research and parents’ preferences as reasons for the new policy. “The government’s research is telling us that excessive screen use is a problem,” she said. “Parents wanted screens to be used intentionally, rather than as a default.”

She added: “An entire generation of students [is] increasingly living in an online world. We have a responsibility to ensure their health and education isn’t impacted by excessive screen use.”

Car also pointed to the government’s existing ban on mobile phones in schools, saying it had produced “fewer distractions in class and improved engagement.” She cited research showing students spending as much as seven hours a day on screens. “When the research is telling us students are spending as much as seven hours a day on screens, and we are seeing reading and writing skills go backwards for a whole generation of children, we have to act,” Car said.

The government’s announcement included a statement by the state’s chief paediatrician, Dr. Helen Goodwin, who said too much time on screens “impacts important daily activities that support healthy growth and development.”

In a statement, the government said digital literacy would remain part of the curriculum but that the policy aimed to “reduce the cumulative impact of screen time” on students’ development. Screen limits have been pushed by some teacher and parent groups.

The NSW move follows a similar announcement from the Victorian government and suggestions by federal Education Minister Jason Clare that students might need a “digital detox.”