Year 1 phonics tests, reduced teacher workloads pledged in new education funding package

The ACT Government will invest $24.9 million in education reforms, with a pledge to introduce phonics tests for year 1 students, provide more resources to improve literacy and numeracy, and reduce teacher workloads.

The Strong Foundations policy, announced at Lyneham Primary School on Friday (21 June), will start implementation of all the recommendations of the Final Report of the Literacy and Numeracy Education Expert Panel, which called for a system overhaul after a previous report found teenage reading skills in the ACT were declining.

Education Minister Yvette Berry said from the start of 2025, each public school classroom from kindergarten to year 2 would receive additional funding for system-approved literacy and numeracy teaching materials and equipment, including decodable readers and mathematical resources. Additional teaching resources, such as lesson planning support, would also be made available to teachers.

Ms Berry said the full four-year implementation plan for Strong Foundations would be made public “later this year”.

“This is an investment in learning for our young Canberrans to ensure that every ACT public school supports every student to reach their potential,” she said.

The expert panel recommended phonics tests be made compulsory for all year 1 students. Phonics is the matching of the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. Minister Berry said the government would pilot the tests in certain schools this year before rolling them out across all schools within four years.

She also said the reforms would help ease teacher workloads, an issue often highlighted by the Australian Education Union.

“This program is intended to free up unnecessary work in schools so teachers can spend more time in the classroom,” Minister Berry said.

Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee criticised the government for being “short on detail” and for taking too long to act on the panel report’s findings.

“The devil is in the detail. There seems to be not sufficient funding to implement the recommendations in full,” she said.

“It’s incumbent on the Education Minister to confirm full details will be made available before the ACT election. This has been years in the making.

“We have a Labor Education Minister that has failed a generation of students.”

The ACT election is in October 2024.

Angela Burroughs of the Australian Education Union was measured in her support of the package.

“It’s a down payment on hope … it’s a downpayment on bringing joy back to teachers … I’m so happy the Minister has said it’s just the beginning as so much more funding is needed,” she said.

“It can be a game-changer for ACT public schools, but only if it’s implemented properly.”

The ACT Government said the funding package would also ensure the Board of Senior Secondary Studies would introduce new Bridging Literacy and Bridging Numeracy courses to support year 11 and 12 students in 2025.

These courses are designed to support students who need additional targeted help to achieve the minimum standards of the Australian Core Skills Framework level 3 by the end of their schooling studies.

“We know that investing in the education of our children provides lifelong benefits and sets them up with the best chance for success,” ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

“There is no better investment we can make in the future of our city than to ensure our children master the fundamentals of their education.”