NSW deputy premier asks for moratorium on take-home assessments for students amid AI review
Prue Car, the NSW deputy premier, has asked the NSW Education Standards Authority (Nesa) to impose a ban on unsupervised take-home assessments during a broad review of AI’s impact on student learning.
Car said she has asked Nesa to “urgently” examine artificial intelligence and move to protect student learning amid growing evidence the technology is affecting student’s cognitive development. Half of students’ HSC result is based on school-based assessments, some of which is finished outside the classroom.
She said in a statement:
Artificial intelligence has enormous potential to support teaching and learning, but it should never replace the thinking, creativity, and hard work that education is designed to develop.
The purpose of schooling extends beyond producing an assessment task. It is to build knowledge, judgment, resilience, and critical thinking over time. If students rely on AI to bypass that learning process, we risk undermining both their education and the integrity of the HSC.
Subject to Nesa’s advice, any interim changes would be applied from the beginning of term 4.
Key events
Butler confident about ‘constructive discussions’ on gambling during upcoming session of parliament
Mark Butler said evidence given before a parliamentary inquiry on gambling was shocking and the government remains set on getting legislation through parliament when it returns this week.
Butler spoke to RN Breakfast, saying the legislation proposed by the government is ambitious, but he understands concerns from the Greens and Coalition, which have both warned it does not go far enough. Labor said this weekend it was open to “sensible amendments”.
Butler added this morning:
I’m confident again over the course of this sitting fortnight there will be constructive discussions between the government and the opposition about that. Obviously, they need to tell us what it is that they want us to consider, but once they do that, I’m sure we’ll give that good consideration.
We are convinced we need to get this legislation through. I mean, it involves a very serious set of major reforms put in place by this government or proposed by this government, the likes of which the federal parliament has never seen before. We’re determined to get these reforms through.
Health minister says bulk billing rate has increased to 84%
Josh Butler
The federal government is trumpeting “big benefits” from its Medicare investments, announcing bulk billing rates across the country are up nearly five percentage points since last year.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said the national bulk billing rate for the June quarter had increased to 84.1%, announcing increases in every state and territory.
Bulk billing was up 5.7% in Victoria (to 85.7%), up 6% in South Australia (82.5%), up 4.1% in NSW (87.5%) and up 13% in the Northern Territory to 90.8%.
Other states saw smaller increases, with the ACT coming in last, with bulk billing still lagging at 59.3% – by far the lowest rate nationally.
Butler said the Labor government’s Medicare investments had helped raise that rate.
“Across the country more and more GP practices are becoming fully bulk billing clinics meaning all patients need is their Medicare card, not their credit card,” he said.
Federal transport minister ‘not happy’ after near-miss between two planes at Sydney airport
Catherine King, the federal transport minister, has asked Air Services Australia to speak with her today about a “pathway forward” after two aircraft were involved in a near-miss at Sydney airport on Sunday.
The two planes, owned by Jetstar and Qatar Airways, almost collided at Sydney airport, the nation’s busiest, on Sunday morning. A Jetstar spokesperson said its plane was following instructions from air traffic control when the pilots were forced to break “firmly” when another aircraft came within “close proximity”.
Inquiries suggest a tug vehicle pulling the Qatar jet may not have followed instructions.
The incident came after delays to more than 150 flights passing through Sydney on Saturday as the airport struggled with staffing shortages.
Airservices Australia, which oversees air traffic control, was managing reduced air traffic movements and had been unable to roster enough staff for three consecutive days, the Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chief executive, Stephen Beckett, told the ABC this weekend.
King told 7 News yesterday:
We’re not happy. No one wants to see passengers disrupted in the way they have been.
That meeting is expected to happen in Canberra today, the ABC reports.
NSW deputy premier asks for moratorium on take-home assessments for students amid AI review
Prue Car, the NSW deputy premier, has asked the NSW Education Standards Authority (Nesa) to impose a ban on unsupervised take-home assessments during a broad review of AI’s impact on student learning.
Car said she has asked Nesa to “urgently” examine artificial intelligence and move to protect student learning amid growing evidence the technology is affecting student’s cognitive development. Half of students’ HSC result is based on school-based assessments, some of which is finished outside the classroom.
She said in a statement:
Artificial intelligence has enormous potential to support teaching and learning, but it should never replace the thinking, creativity, and hard work that education is designed to develop.
The purpose of schooling extends beyond producing an assessment task. It is to build knowledge, judgment, resilience, and critical thinking over time. If students rely on AI to bypass that learning process, we risk undermining both their education and the integrity of the HSC.
Subject to Nesa’s advice, any interim changes would be applied from the beginning of term 4.
Good morning
Good morning, and happy Monday. Here’s what’s on deck:
Catherine King, the federal minister for transport, said she has asked Air Services Australia to come and talk to her today about a “pathway forward” after two aircraft were involved in a near-miss at Sydney airport on Sunday.
And the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former foreign minister Bob Carr will speak before a public inquiry into the Aukus submarine deal today. Stick with us.
