Education changes signed off

A DECLUTTERED Australian Curriculum featuring a renewed focus on history and a clearer maths curriculum will be rolled out to students from next year, as a final version gets the tick of approval.

After months of debate about the content of the curriculum, the country’s commonwealth, state and territory Education Ministers signed off on Version 9.0 during a virtual meeting on Friday.

Among the changes was a revision of mental health content within the Health and Physical Education learning area, as well as the addition of “Deep Time Indigenous History” as a compulsory component of year 7.

A stronger focus on phonics in English, the explicit teaching of consent and respectful relationships from the foundation year to year 10 were also among the key changes.

Australian History was also now compulsory in both years 9 and 10, instead of optional, a change which Education and Youth Acting Minister Stuart Robert said would “strengthen how our young people appreciate our prosperous, democratic country”.