The New South Wales government will introduce mandatory screen time limits in public school classrooms from 2028, alongside a push for daily “pen and paper” learning, as state education minister Prue Car warns that reading and writing skills are going “backwards for a whole generation of children”.
New Screen Time Caps by Year Group
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. Older children will be allowed additional time: up to 30 minutes a day for students in Years 3 and 4, and 45 minutes for Years 5 and 6.
High school students will face restrictions based on their individual subjects. In Years 7 to 10, the use of personal digital devices will be limited to a quarter of subject time, while senior high school students will be allowed to use devices for up to half their learning time.
Homework and Pen-and-Paper Guidelines
The government also announced new guidelines limiting the use of screens for homework, including not recommending any such use for children younger than Year 5. The guidelines will also recommend “a minimum of one hour a day” be devoted to pen and paper learning.
The screen limits will be recommended next year and become mandatory in NSW schools from 2028. The announcement follows a similar move by the Victorian government and suggestions by federal education minister Jason Clare that students might need a “digital detox”.
Minister Cites Research on Screen Time
State education minister Prue Car said 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. “An entire generation of students [is] increasingly living in an online world,” Car said. “We have a responsibility to ensure their health and education isn’t impacted by excessive screen use.”
She added: “We have already seen positive results from our ban on mobile phones, with fewer distractions in class and improved engagement. 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.”
Health and Curriculum Impact
The government 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 a 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 new regulations mark a significant shift in NSW education policy, with the state moving to curb device use in classrooms while promoting traditional learning methods.
