Education Minister Yvette Berry and Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government was still preparing to move classes online next term, with only a select group of schools remaining open for students which needed to attend.

But the pair acknowledged that those plans might be adjusted after Prime Minister Scott Morrison set a timeline for a possible easing of the restrictions brought in to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The existing restrictions will remain in place, including in the ACT, for the next four weeks, after which time they will be reviewed.

Mr Morrison's national cabinet of premiers and chief ministers agreed on Thursday to a series of principles on dealing with schools amid the pandemic.

It followed 48 hours of confusion after Mr Morrison published a video message on social media which urged teachers to remain in the classroom - a position seemingly in conflict with the states moving to remote learning.

READ MORE:

Among the seven principles agreed to on Thursday was a declaration that states and territories were responsible for running their own school system.

Speaking to reporters after the national cabinet meeting, Mr Barr said the ACT government was pushing ahead with its remote education plan.

But Mr Barr indicated that the situation could change if restrictions were eased after next month's review.

"Were we in a position in four weeks time to be loosening a range of public health restrictions that may have a consequential flow on into the education sector," he said.

Ms Berry said the government was ready to act quickly if the health advice changed.

"I think we have to take each day as it comes, each hour," she said.

"We have a plan that we can deliver remote education for the whole of term two, but if we needed to pull that back because the situation changes and we have more children attending schools, then we will do that."

About 1400 public school students had signed up to attend one of the designated school sites in term two as of Thursday morning. The education directorate will use the information to determine which schools should remain open.

Ms Berry said the process of reopening schools would have to be carefully planned to limit disruption to students, parents and teachers.

In a move which threatened to cause further confusion for Canberra parents, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Thursday morning that students in that state would return to classrooms in the third week of term two.

Given the territory's desire to maintain consistency with NSW in responding to the pandemic, there was some uncertainty early in the day as to whether or not the announcement might influence the ACT's approach.

Ultimately, it would not.

Ms Berry, speaking at Thursday's media conference, said while the ACT had to be cognizant of the NSW government's approach, it did not necessarily need to follow or emulate it.

"We are acting based on local need," she said.

"We are much better prepared [to deliver online learning] because of the geographic location of our schools, the smaller size of our population and because we were digitally ready to deliver remote education before we even needed to."

Mr Morrison's national cabinet has shifted its attention to navigating a path out of the pandemic after weeks of successful efforts to contain the virus' spread.

The ACT recorded no new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, meaning just one new case of infection has been detected in the past six days.

Mr Barr said the consistently low numbers were the product of Canberrans complying with the physical distancing restrictions.

But he said other countries which had enjoyed early success in containing the virus, but were now being forced to new impose restrictions to prevent fresh outbreaks, offered "notes of caution" for Australia as it planned its exit strategy from the pandemic.

"Singapore is an example there," he said.

"That weighs very heavily on the minds of each state and territory leader and the prime minister and it is palpable during discussions in the national cabinet."

Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here.