The Department of Education and Training and the Education Trade Union of Nghe An have just coordinated to organize and implement the campaign "Nghe An schools say no to phones during class".
The campaign aims for students from primary to high school in the province not to use phones during regular classes, extra classes at school, and even during recess.
The fact that students are glued to their phones regardless of time or space to surf Facebook, TikTok, watch movies, play games... is nothing new.
The harm and consequences of this on students’ development have been discussed a lot, so we will not discuss it further here. What needs to be discussed is the pros and cons of “banning” and “encouraging” students to say no to phones.
In fact, many schools, especially international and private schools in Vietnam, have imposed an absolute ban on students using cell phones, even during recess, for many years now.
Of course, this prohibition is a rule and condition of the school and is agreed upon and supported by all parents when sending their children to school.
Recently, some public schools such as Thanh Loc High School and Truong Chinh High School (District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) have also issued similar regulations and only allow students to use phones with the teacher's consent.
Although this regulation has received support from many people, there are still opposing opinions that banning the use of cell phones is undemocratic and contrary to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training in Circular 32/2020/TT-BGDDT, students are only prohibited from using mobile phones during class without the teacher's permission, but not from bringing or using mobile phones during breaks at school.
According to this regulation, students are allowed to bring their phones into class and use them freely during recess. So if they want to ban it completely, the Ministry of Education and Training must first amend the regulation.
Therefore, the campaign in Nghe An has become a good and feasible way, creating conditions for students, parents, and schools to reach consensus.
Instead of issuing rigid regulations, Nghe An cleverly used advocacy to create changes in students' phone usage habits.
This helps create a healthy educational environment that encourages real-life interaction and connection, rather than focusing solely on the phone.
The campaign “Nghe An schools say no to phones during class” has shown that this is a good way to do it. However, how good and effective it is will take more time to evaluate.
But if the campaign is successful, the model "Nghe An schools say no to phones during class" can be completely replicated nationwide!
