New South Wales will request the Commonwealth, state, and territory governments consider moving back to handwritten writing tests for students in Years 5, 7, and 9, after recent NAPLAN results reinforced a national decline in writing.
The Minns Labor Government’s push for NAPLAN writing tests to return to pen and paper from 2028 will be on the agenda when national Education Ministers meet on Monday, 2 November.
Currently, Year 3 students complete their writing test on paper, while older students sit the test on a computer.
The Minns Labor Government is leading a renewed national focus on handwriting as concerns grow that the prolonged use of technology in schools is having a negative impact on student learning.
Teachers, principals, and parents have already shared their concerns that online testing in primary school does not reflect the fact that most classroom learning takes place offline.
The Minns Labor Government is taking action to address these concerns and ensure an entire generation of students does not miss out on essential educational foundations.
This includes the introduction of limits on the amount of time students spend on screens in NSW public schools, helping curb excessive screen use, improve attention, and lift educational outcomes.
New guidelines recommend a minimum of one hour a day of learning using pen and paper, reflecting strong evidence of the benefits of writing by hand and reading from paper.
These policies build on and complement actions already taken by the Minns Labor Government to reduce reliance on technology and limit distractions, beginning with the ban on mobile phones in 2023 and recent restrictions on take-home assessments for HSC students to combat the use of AI.
The NSW government’s own research fund assessing the impact of screen use on learning found that only around one-third of parents of primary-school aged children indicated that the benefits of using technology outweigh the disadvantages.
Schools that have already adopted a digital-free approach to learning are seeing the benefits flow through to better educational outcomes.
Deputy Premier of New South Wales and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:
“The Minns Labor Government is committed to ensuring New South Wales students build strong foundational writing skills that will set them up for long-term success.
“The evidence from our classrooms points clearly to the ongoing value of handwriting and its importance for student development and engaging a different way of learning.
“We’re listening to teachers and families who want a sensible, balanced approach to technology use in schools.”
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