Support for parents
Mobile phones in the classroom are distracting and cause pupils to perform less well. That is why they will no longer be allowed from next year. Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (Education, Culture and Science) agreed this with the VO-raad, Sectorraad GO, AOb, CNV Education, FvOV, Parents & Education, LAKS and LBVSO. The impending ban on mobile phones is a support for parents, according to Lobke Vlaming, director of Parents & Education. “It is difficult for parents to do something like this on their own, to say: you are not allowed to do that, even though your friends are. We are pleased with the collective agreements.”
A good step towards a ban throughout the school
Pupils who depend on their phone, for example for medical reasons or because of a disability, will still be allowed to use it. There will also be adapted arrangements for special education. Vlaming would have liked the agreements to go a little further, so that there would be guidelines not only for the classroom but also for the rest of the building. “Then pupils would also know what they may and may not do during breaks. But overall, this decision is already a good step. Children are very distracted by mobile phones. Their academic performance declines and they find it more difficult to concentrate. This ban on mobile phones will help create a calmer environment.”
School rules
In the coming period, the organisations involved will further develop the agreement. After the summer holidays, teachers, pupils and their parents will also be able to discuss together exactly what this will look like at their school, so that they have arranged this by 1 January 2024.