Forms made of paper at NSW public schools are destined for the pages of history as the Department of Education embarks on a school digitalisation program.
The Department said it would provide all parents at public primary schools with the option to enrol their child online or on paper and was starting a program to digitise other frequently used school forms.
Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell said that after a successful pilot program, the rollout of online enrolment would continue to all public primary schools by 2021.
“This is a game changer for families and schools across NSW,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Online enrolment offers a modern, digital alternative to the current handwritten application form, saving both families and school administration teams hours of precious time,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said a single paper enrolment form could take 40 minutes to process, whereas schools using online enrolment were able to complete up to six enrolment applications in just 30 minutes.
Minister for Customer Service, Victor Dominello said the State’s Digital Restart Fund had been instrumental in assisting the Department of Education to bring the essential process online.
“We want to cut the number of physical forms down from 85 to a more manageable level,” Mr Dominello said.
“We will start with the forms used most frequently by families and schools, which include parent-teacher interview bookings, student absences, and HSC subject selection,” he said.
Mr Dominello said that currently parents and carers spent more than six million hours a year filling the forms out, and school staff spent 11 million hours processing them.
He said the paper enrolment option would remain for families who didn’t have access to digital facilities.
