‘Phones are usually not calculators’ as UK colleges urged to go ‘phone-free’ by authorities
Phones should not be used in schools throughout the entire school day and teachers should not use their devices in front of pupils, according to a letter from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson
She’s made a demand(Image: Leon Neal, Getty Images)
The Education Secretary has penned a letter to headteachers across England, emphasising that schools ought to remain phone-free for the duration of the entire school day, according to reports.
The correspondence, which has reportedly been viewed by the BBC and The Times, reveals that Bridget Phillipson declared it was “not appropriate for phones to be used as calculators, or for research” during lessons or outside classroom hours.
Last week saw the government release revised guidance concerning mobile phone usage in educational settings, emphasising that pupils “should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunch times, or between lessons”.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced it would take swift action regarding children’s social media usage, including instructing Ofsted to scrutinise schools’ mobile phone policies and assess their implementation effectiveness during inspections.
“Schools should make sure those policies are applied consistently across classes and at all times and we want parents to back these policies too,” Ms Phillipson stated in her correspondence, reports Lancs Live.
Educators have additionally been cautioned against using their mobile devices in front of students.
Data provided by the DSIT indicates that 99.9% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools have established mobile phone policies.
Nevertheless, 58% of secondary school students acknowledged that mobile phones were being used without authorisation in at least some lessons, with this figure climbing to 65% for key stage four pupils. Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, expressed to the BBC that school leaders “need support from government, not the threat of heavy-handed inspection”.
This comes in the wake of ministers initiating a consultation on the possibility of implementing an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s in the UK.
The consultation will explore various options such as increasing the digital age of consent and limiting potentially addictive app design features like “streaks” and “infinite scrolling”. As part of this process, ministers will be making a trip to Australia, where a social media prohibition for those under 16 was enforced in December.
The Government plans to gather opinions from parents and young people and will provide a response in the summer, according to DSIT.
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