Call for national mobile phone ban in public schools to face resistance

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/28/call-for-national-mobile-phone-ban-in-public-schools-to-face-resistance

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The federal education minister, Dan Tehan, is expected to face resistance when he asks some state counterparts to consider a ban on students using mobile phones during school hours, at a meeting in Melbourne on Friday.

The meeting comes just days after Victoria’s decision to ban mobile phones at public schools from next year, in an effort to tackle cyberbullying and distraction in the classroom. The NSW government announced a ban on phones in public primary schools late last year.

Tehan is asking his counterparts in states without a ban to consider a similar move in their states and territories, which would stop all Australian public school students using phones during school hours.

Victoria to ban mobile phones in all state primary and secondary schools

But Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT have no plans to implement a similar rule.

The ACT education minister, Yvette Berry, says banning phones in school may not be the best way to support the development of children and young people.

“Helping students understand what appropriate behaviour is both on and offline should be part of the learning journey,” she said.

“It’s important that children and young people are taught how to live alongside devices appropriately because this is a big part of our life now.”

The NT education minister, Selena Uibo, believes technology can be used in a positive way in classrooms and schools, while the Queensland education minister, Grace Grace, says the decision to implement such a ban is up to principals.

Mobile phones are banned in French schools and Canadian provinces are considering the policy.

Experts from both countries will visit Australia in coming months to discuss the issue.

Tehan says phones are a distraction in the classroom and make teaching difficult.

The ministers will also dissect exactly what went wrong with the online Naplan tests this year, with NSW calling for a complete overhaul of the national assessments.

When the testing took place across the country in mid-May, some students lost connectivity and others were unable to log in at all.

Those affected were able to resit the tests, managed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.

Tehan remains hopeful Naplan testing can go online from next year but admits more work is needed to resolve technical issues.

But the NSW education minister, Sarah Mitchell, will use the meeting to call for a review of the national assessment, which could consider alternative options to the Naplan test.

She says it’s time to design a new test that is “genuinely useful”, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.