Queensland does at 95 per cent of schools, but this will extend to 100 per cent from next year, while the ACT is reviewing its policies. Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory already ban or restrict mobile phone use in classrooms, while NSW will from the start of term four. On the mobile phone front, the ministers hoped banning or restricting the use of phones in classrooms and the playground would reduce distractions and cyberbullying. State and federal governments also planned to revamp practical placements to have “a deeper, better and more organised level of practical experience”, Mr Clare said, again in response to students’ and teachers’ concerns. Only half the students who start teaching degrees complete them, and of those who do finish, 20 per cent leave the profession in their first three years as a teacher. The Scott report found that many teaching students felt their courses did not adequately prepare them for the classroom, with a considerable proportion fleeing the industry as a result. Mr Clare said this would be mandated and that a separate assurance board would be established to verify universities were meeting these standards, and report back to the ministers.īut taking away a university’s accreditation to offer teaching degrees would only be “the nuclear option”, Mr Clare said.Īs well as lifting teaching standards, the reforms are aimed at improving staff retention. Universities would be required to introduce new “core content” targeting these skills under the ministers’ agreement. He said teachers told him courses did not have enough on “how do children learn, what are the evidence-based practices that work that teach children to read, to write, to do maths”, or how they should manage disruptive students or challenging classes. It comes as the Productivity Commission revealed that NAPLAN scores in numeracy tests were going backwards despite billions in extra government funding, while results in reading stagnate.įederal Education Minister Jason Clare said the overhaul of teaching standards would include making universities focus more on “the fundamentals” such as reading, writing, arithmetic and classroom control. The expert report by Sydney University vice chancellor Mark Scott found universities are failing to equip teaching graduates with the requisite skills to manage challenging classrooms, leading many to quit the profession soon after starting. Jason Clare speaks with teachers and students as part of a ministerial reference group meeting on Friday.

State and federal education ministers agreed to the sweeping measures in meetings over Thursday and Friday, as they scrambled to respond to teacher shortages, poor NAPLAN test results and a damning report into teacher training standards.

Teachers will be subject to national practical teaching guidelines and tougher accreditation standards from the next school year, and mobile phones in classrooms will be banned or restricted in a bid to improve students’ behaviour, numeracy and literacy.

Jason schwartz labor