Education Minister “bans” use of mobile phones in schools
Education / Mon 2nd Oct 2023 at 03:03pm
THE EDUCATION minister, Gillian Keegan has announced a total ban on mobile phones in schools.
The minister made the comments as part of her speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester (Monday).
Some schools already ban the use of mobiles, with pupils required to hand in their phones each morning – or face the punishment of a detention if they are caught using them.
Ministers already encourage headteachers to limit phone usage, with many schools having put restrictions in place. But the BBC reported Keegan wanted expanded guidance to be offered by Whitehall, and government sources told the broadcaster they were confident it would have an effect.
Now it looks like she has gone one step further and is “banning phones in schools”.
Most Harlow schools require the pupils phones to be switched off when they enter the school grounds.
Pupils may be given permission to use phones in emergencies but also in circumstances such as a change in venue for an after-school sports fixture.
We understand the Burnt Mill Academy has gone a step further and deployed a metal arch if they suspect pupils are trying to bring in a mobile phone.
Many may see this as a political gimmick by an under-fire party that is behind in the polls.
Indeed, just after the minister out forward the above tweet, Ms Keegan then admitted on a radio interview on LBC, said it was “guidance”.
We will ask Harlow MP Robert Halfon, who is a minister of state for education, what his opinion is, when he returns for the conference.
Nostradamus
2023-10-02 17:40:39
Banning mobile phones doesn't solve bullying. Students are encouraged to come equipped with their own laptops and tablets and to use modern technology so if a student hasn't access to their mobile there's other electronic ways of misbehaving. Would banning the pen have prevented bullying notes or graffiti? In the extreme I guess by screening wireless signals in the school and directing access through a school IT security system might be possible. However, the minister is missing the point that education and organisation in schools must be such that students are supportive and considerate of each other, that bullying in any form routed out and that students are willing to learn in class rather than disrupt. It's ironic in many 3rd world nations children fight to get into school to get an education whereas in the uk the numbers not attending are at a record high. It's not the phones but the system.
Bruce Downey
2023-10-02 17:57:39
Ed, As an ex-teacher.. wasn’t like that in your day…It was just another brick in the wall.
Tony Edwards
2023-10-02 18:09:38
So when we have a major problem of teacher recruitment ( with the Times Education Supplement reporting over 7500 vacancies in June ), when the number of new entrants to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) has fallen from 40,377 in 2020-21, to just 28,991 last year, when the targets for maths, biology and chemistry were all missed, when we have school buildings literally unfit for purpose, what does the Education Minister choose to talk about?
Hugo
2023-10-02 20:37:50
Just like the non-existent "meat tax", this "ban" doesn't exist either. It's not a "ban", it's "guidance" only. Guidance that is not needed because at least some schools have been handling mobile phone usage for 10 years. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/mobile-phones-not-issue-needs-27827315
Luke Burton
2023-10-02 21:02:58
Are the meat taxes in the room with us right now, Gillian?
Teacher
2023-10-02 21:13:46
Edward, there's been a problem with recruiting maths, chemistry, biology, physics and Engineering teachers since the mid 1960s: things improved radically particularly in London when the GLC built great new comprehensives and then progressively got worse through the 1970s as Thatcher progressed to PM in 1979 (Brick in the Wall released) and still more off track when the National curriculum and OFSTED took hold. Having looked at how schools are today, they are falling apart. Having recent experience of both school based QTS and University PGCE courses it's clear that equip teachers to tackle the issues that need to be addressed in state schools. Fee paying schools on the other hand have generally been far more successful. The question that Gillian Keegan needs to address is "why the difference?" Mobile phones are a blue herring.
Teacher
2023-10-02 21:37:23
Edward, there's been a problem with recruiting maths, chemistry, biology, physics and Engineering teachers since the mid 1960s: things improved radically particularly in London when the GLC built great new comprehensives and then progressively got worse through the 1970s as Thatcher progressed to PM in 1979 (Brick in the Wall released) and still more off track when the National curriculum and OFSTED took hold. Having looked at how schools are today, they are falling apart. Having recent experience of both school based QTS and University PGCE courses it's clear that they fail to equip teachers to tackle the issues that need to be addressed in state schools. Fee paying schools on the other hand have generally been far more successful. The question that Gillian Keegan needs to address is "why the difference?" Mobile phones are a blue herring.
Hugo
2023-10-02 22:38:22
It was a blue herring today, and it was a blue herring more than 2 years ago: https://www.yourharlow.com/2021/06/29/mobile-phone-ban-plan-to-improve-school-behaviour/ Perhaps YH can ask Robert Halfon why it has taken over 2 years to not ban, but issue guidance on something that doesn't need any guidance.
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