WA news LIVE: WA to slash screen time in classrooms

Screen time across WA schools will be slashed under a new initiative by the state government, set to be announced this morning.

As Term 4 gets underway today, WA Premier Roger Cook will ban the unnecessary use of iPads and laptops for kindy to Year 2 classrooms to try and limit young children’s exposure to digital devices.

The ‘back to basics’ trial will be rolled out across 10 primary schools and children taking part will no longer be able to access iPads for activities such as tracing letters and solving maths problems.

For older students, the government is set to appoint a new advisory group to develop a digital learning and screen use plan for all public schools.

The move comes after Australia recorded its worst-ever reading and numeracy results in a recent international survey.

Victoria and New South Wales are due to introduce screen time restrictions for their younger student cohorts from next year.

The week will start out with a burst of sunshine and warmth peaking at 31 on Wednesday. But later that day showers will start to push in, and they’ll hang around through the weekend.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog for this Monday, the 12th of October.

Making headlines today, a new survey has revealed a growing number of young carers nationally, aged 12 to 25, felt they’d lost their childhood.

Sara Qalandari took on the role of a carer for her family when she was just 10 years old after they migrated to Western Australia as refugees.

Meanwhile, a leader of one of the state’s major universities says the institution will “vigorously oppose” a planned merger of Curtin, Murdoch and the University of WA after the Cook government announced it will progress a business case to create a mega-university.