The Literacy and Numeracy Education Expert Panel was appointed in November 2023 to provide the Minister with advice on opportunities to strengthen literacy and numeracy outcomes for all ACT public school students, with a particular focus on equity.

They were also tasked with looking at how supports for educators and students could be enhanced.

The Expert Panel’s overarching message was “for the ACT to achieve equity and excellence in education, our schools need a system wide approach to teaching and learning.”

Berry said she acknowledges and embraces this message.

“I’ve heard there is a broad desire across the ACT community for a more consistent system-wide approach to teaching and learning in ACT public schools,” she said in a statement.

“Teachers and school leaders have told us they want more centralised curriculum support and consistent assessment tools that provide real-time feedback, so they can use their professional judgement on what really matters – delivering high quality teaching.”

Berry said over the past few months, the Expert Panel received 295 survey responses, 96 written submissions, conducted 25 targeted consultations, and visited 53 ACT public schools.

“The Expert Panel has provided evidence-based and practical suggestions for how we can strengthen our public education system by working together as one system, delivering better learning outcomes for students, and better workloads for teachers and school leaders,” she said.

“This isn’t about a ‘one size fits all’ approach, but about guaranteeing every ACT public school supports every student to realise their potential.

“It’s also about ensuring our schools use the best teaching approaches for all students, and provide targeted supports to those who need it.

The minister said she’s looking forward to rolling out the Expert Panel’s recommendations with a focus on ensuring the ACT’s public education system is “the most equitable in Australia”, and reversing the unsustainable workloads of the territory’s teachers and school leaders.

Work will now begin on designing a four-year implementation plan, with principals invited to be a part of this work.

Implementation will begin from the start of the 2025 school year.

The Final Report of the Literacy and Numeracy Education Expert Panel can be read here.