The Minister of State for Higher Education John Chrysestom Muyingo, has revealed that the Ministry of Education and Sports is studying the matter of authorizing use of mobile phones by learners in the schools.
Currently there is an ongoing debate of whether the government should permit the use of smartphones in schools. According to educationists, the gadgets can be used as a tool to facilitate learning in and outside the classroom.
Some countries have attempted to allow learners to have phones in the classrooms, however it has been observed that learners check their phone more than ten times a day. This amount of time of distraction can have significant bearing on the learner’s ability to focus and accomplish learning targets; and ultimately lead to the latter’s frustration, stress, and subsequent undesirable consequences.
The gadgets have become a platform and media for propagating vices such as cheating, cyber-bullying, and other anti-social behavior. However, as a Ministry, given the nature of business they transact in our schools, they do not wish the environment within the Educational Institution of Learning to become a place where such vices mushroom.
“We want to holistically address this challenge within the context of a larger framework of how to leverage ICTs in facilitating learning in our education system. Once this framework is in place, we shall have a basis for developing supporting regulation of use of mobile phones among other ICTs in the setting of Educational Institutions of Learning,” he said.
The minister said when the government fully adopts the use of ICTs in the entire education system; they will do it in a manner that is age-appropriate, beneficial, and safe for the learner, the teacher, and the school environment.
“Until such a time, the status quo of not allowing the use of personal mobile phones by learners in school settings remains,” he said.
