The primary school curriculum will be trimmed down – with four subjects combined into one – and teachers will place more emphasis on phonics when teaching children how to read under a redesign of the national curriculum approved by all state governments.
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The changes follow a review of the national curriculum, commissioned by federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne last year, which called for a more explicit focus on literacy and numeracy in the early years of schooling.
State and territory education ministers agreed during a telephone hook-up on Thursday that the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) should redesign the curriculum to reflect key findings of the review.
The amount of content in the primary humanities and social sciences area will be reduced by up to 30 per cent.
But calls in the review for a more significant overhaul of the curriculum have been rejected as too difficult to implement at this stage.
"They're not throwing out the old curriculum and starting again," Mr Pyne said.
"The structure of the national curriculum will remain, it will just be much better."
ACARA will redesign the curriculum by the end of the year so that state governments can implement the changes for the 2016 school year, Mr Pyne said.
ACARA will focus on:
- reducing the quantity of content in the curriculum
- combining history, geography, civics and citizenship and economics and business into one combined social sciences subject for primary schools
- giving more clarity on the use of three cross curriculum priorities (sustainability, Australia's engagement with Asia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures)
- strengthening the use of phonics
- improving accessibility for students with disabilities
The recommendations do not make any mention of controversial "culture war" issues such as reshaping how Australian history is taught. When Mr Pyne announced the review he said he wanted the curriculum to be more "balanced", including a greater focus on the benefits of western civilisation and the teaching of Anzac Day.
Australian Primary Principals Association President Dennis Yarrington said: "This is a step in the right direction. We welcome the announcement from the education ministers and the proposal put forward by ACARA."
