STAFF WRITER
Public schools will restrict the amount of time students spend on screens to improve attention and learning.
From the beginning of next year, public schools will limit Kindergarten to Year 2 students to 15 minutes a day on laptops, tablets or desktop computers, increasing slowly up to a maximum of half the time per subject for senior high school students.
These are the changes:
No individual student device use in public preschools
Up to 15 minutes a day for Kindergarten to Year 2
Up to 30 minutes a day for Years 3 and 4
Up to 45 minutes a day for Years 5 and 6
Up to one-quarter of the time per subject for Years 7 to 10
Up to half the time per subject for Years 11 and 12
These times would operate across a week of lessons.
Schools will also recommend limiting screen time for homework to help reduce screen use at home, with the use of digital devices for homework not recommended before Year 5.
New guidelines recommend a minimum of one hour a day of learning using pen and paper, reflecting strong evidence of the learning benefits of writing by hand and reading from paper.
The government’s daily screen use recommendations will be introduced from Day 1, Term 1, 2027 and become mandatory from 2028, giving schools and teachers time to adjust resources and practices.
Mobile phones were banned in schools in 2023 and recently restrictions were put on take-home assessments for HSC students to combat the use of AI.
Digital literacy will remain a core part of the curriculum with opportunities to use online tools in educationally beneficial ways. 
The policy includes clear exemptions and adjustments for students with disability, those with additional needs, or students for whom English is not their first language, or where digital support is part of a personalised learning plan.
The Department of Education will support teachers to make the transition to ensure that screens are no longer the default for learning in NSW public schools.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said an entire generation of students are increasingly living in an online world.
“Our government’s research is telling us that excessive screen use is a problem, and that parents want screens to be used intentionally. That means screens should not be the default,” Ms Car said.
“We have already seen positive results from our ban on mobile phones, with fewer distractions in class and improved engagement – not just with their studies, but with each other as well.
“When the research is telling us teenagers are spending as much as seven hours a day on screens, and we are seeing reading and writing skills going backwards for a whole generation of children, we have to act.”