WA news LIVE: Baby, two women killed in weekend crash; AI in Perth classrooms trial

Premier Roger Cook has just held a press conference in Karratha to announce a boost to housing supply in the Pilbara.

He’s also taken the opportunity to address whether Western Australia will be acknowledging its Olympic athletes when they return home from Paris in the coming days.

“We’re certainly working with the WA Institute of Sport, with the Olympic Committee and others to see what’s the best way we can celebrate the incredible success of our Australian athletes, and of course, we are most proud of the West Australian athletes,” he said.

“We are really looking forward to welcoming them home.”

WA athletes won a total of six gold medals at the games, including Nina Kennedy’s pole-vaulting gold, Matt Wearn’s dinghy sailing victory and Matt Ebdens win in the men’s tennis doubles.

To some education news now and in a bid to reduce teacher workload in WA classrooms, eight schools across the state will trial a new AI program that will help reduce administration workloads.

The program, funded to the tune of $4.7 million by taxpayers, will help teachers draft lesson plans and suggest learning activities aligned to the national curriculum.

There are four public and four private schools involved, including Harrisdale Primary School and Ursula Frayne Catholic College.

It is part of the Commonwealth’s $30 million Workload Reduction Fund under the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, which education ministers agreed to in December 2022.

The funding will be matched by the state government, and the state’s non-government sector will also contribute $300,000.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said teaching was “the most important job in the world,” and that the idea that teachers started at 9am and clocked off at 3pm was “rubbish”.

“AI will never replace a great teacher, but it can help cut down the time they spend doing admin so they can spend more time in the classroom,” he said.

WA Education Minister Tony Buti said the AI program would help teachers to actually teach rather than be weighed down by “unnecessary administrative burdens.”

”We are determined to create the right conditions for school staff to get on with their jobs of providing a great education,” he said.