A trial to overhaul the 9am to 3pm school day in NSW could start later this year, using teaching models from before and after school tutoring programs established during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools will be able to apply for the trial through an expression of interest process under development. The trial is expected to start in term three.
Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday again voiced support for modernising the school day, as he announced a landmark women’s economic review to increase female workforce participation and help shape the state budget.
Mr Perrottet argued that the 9am to 3pm timetable was set up at a very different time in life, adding that his government needed to “look outside the box … to be bold and brave”.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos told Sydney Morning Herald that talk of overhauling the school day was a distraction designed to grab headlines.
“We have serious issues concerning education, top of the list is a significant teacher shortage, with underlying causes of uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads,” he said.
Mr Gavrielatos said school starting and finishing times already varied across NSW, including at Merrylands East Public, which operates from 8am to 1.15pm, with playground supervision from 7.30am and one recess break.
He said trialling changed school hours was futile because, “what might work in one school like Merrylands would be anathema to another”.
*Source: Sydney Morning Herald
