Education Minister Jason Clare talks about ‘toxic’ social media, drop in students finishing school

Education Minister Jason Clare has declared social media “toxic” in an exclusive interview, and revealed the school statistic that keeps him awake at night.

Education Minister Jason Clare has declared social media “toxic” and “like poker machines for kids” and says he lies awake terrified by the drop in students finishing high school.

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Mr Clare also said universities needed to better equip teachers for the classroom, with many feeling overwhelmed and underprepared “on day one”.

The minister, who is presiding over the biggest overhaul of the education system in a decade, said new technology and social media were creating problems never seen before in children and students.

“It’s like poker machines for kids,” he said. “I think all parents are grappling with this. Social media is toxic.”

Mr Clare singled out TikTok as being particularly addictive, with algorithms explicitly designed to keep kids hooked online.

“When you and I were kids, TikTok was what clocks did. Now it’s affecting our kids, learning in the classroom.”

Education Minister Jason Clare with students from Telopea Park School. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

He said this was why all schools in Australia needed to ban mobile phones, which all states and territories recently agreed to.

Now several other countries, including New Zealand, are following Australia’s lead, telling Mr Clare at a recent education ministers’ conference in Singapore that they too would ban devices in schools.

Mr Clare also said he had grave concerns about AI and it needed to be used in the safest and most beneficial way. One of these was ensuring there were safeguards so that any information captured in the classroom was banned from being passed on to third parties.

“I’m worried about an ed-tech company that provides an AI product for a school and the child types a question into the AI and then they get an ad sent back to them the next day on TikTok,” he said.

Minister Jason Clare said he is concerned about the drop in public school students finishing high school. Picture: John Feder

However, he said the thing that scared him the most was the drop in public school students finishing high school was almost double the overall average.

“One of the things that keeps me up at night is the fact that the number of kids finishing high school today is going backwards,” Mr Clare said.

“In 2017, the percentage of kids finishing high school was 85 per cent. Last year, it was 79.

“And at public schools, the percentage of kids finishing high school in 2017 was 83 per cent. Last year, it was 73 per cent.”

The minister said this was even more disastrous in an age in which future jobs would require more and more tertiary qualifications.

“Mate, it’s terrifying,” he said. “Particularly at a time where we need more kids to finish school because most of the jobs are going to require getting to TAFE or uni.”

Mr Clare said a lack of funding and the corresponding teacher shortage were a double-whammy blow on student retention, leading the government to go all out in recruiting as many teachers as humanly possible from every walk of life.

Minister Clare said Australia also needed to address the teacher shortage.

This includes not just students going into undergraduate teaching degrees but attracting professionals from other careers into postgrad teaching degrees which are half the length and can sometimes be fast-tracked further.

But critical to both is giving student teachers more classroom experience and better tools to handle behavioural and disciplinary issues.

“Most teachers I’ve spoken to tell me that they don’t feel ready for the classroom when they start,” Mr Clare said. “Yes, on day one.

“And so that’s why we’re changing the course at uni so that there’s more focus on the skills teachers need – yes, to teach children to read and write and do maths but also how to manage disruptive classrooms.”

Free training to address bad behaviour

Teachers across Australia will also be given a free course on how to better manage disruptive students under a groundbreaking national plan to crack down on bad behaviour in the classroom.

The federal government will also offer free courses on explicit teaching and phonics as part of its evidence-based, back to basics approach to education that it hopes will deliver higher standards and attract more people into teaching.

The move comes amid a crisis in teacher numbers across the country, with low enrolments in teaching degrees and a high rate of burnout for graduates in their early years.

It is widely understood that struggling to manage classroom behaviour is a key driver in why many young teachers are leaving the profession.

Now all teachers are able to register for a short course in managing disruptive classrooms, with the online courses commencing in July.

The course is also available to any other staff in classroom roles and school leaders and will be provided completely free of charge until the end of 2025.

The two other courses in explicit teaching and phonics will be rolled out throughout the year.

As an added incentive the “microcredential” qualifications will also give teachers a potential credit pathway towards a post-graduate study award at the University of Adelaide’s School of Education.

The UA contract is the first phase of the government’s $5 million investment to develop and deliver evidence-based training for teacher development that improves classroom performance and also adds to their professional credentials.

Education Minister Jason Clare said all teachers, regardless of experience or length of service, were eligible for the free courses.

“These evidence-based courses will help teachers build on their skills to manage disruptive classrooms,” he said.

“They support new and experienced teachers and will help to improve learning outcomes for students.”

Assistant Education Minister Anthony Chisholm said the courses would provide vital classroom management skills and remain “at zero cost” over the next two years.

Mr Clare also credited this newspaper’s campaign for helping to turn around the rock-bottom crisis in teacher numbers and morale last year to a far more positive and optimistic picture today.