Mobile phones should be be banned in schools, says Culture Secretary

Mobile phones should be banned in the classroom, Culture Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

He warned that mobile phones could have a “real impact” on students’ achievements and hailed head teachers who ban them from school.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Hancock encouraged more schools to ban them and set boundaries for the students.

“There are a number of schools across the country that simply don’t allow them,” he said.

“While it is up to individual schools to decide rather than government, I admire head teachers who do not allow mobiles to be used during the school day. I encourage more schools to follow their lead.”

He acknowledged the role of parents in teaching young people to use technology safely but said schools should also pay a big part.

In 2015, a study by the London School of Economics found that in schools that banned mobile phones, the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4 percent.

In France, mobile phones will be banned from primary, junior and middle schools from September this year.

Pupils will still be allowed to bring their phones onto school premises, but will not be allowed to have access to them at any point during the school day, according to the Times Education Supplement.