What is the fuss about phones in school?

COMMENT | DEDAN TUMUSIIME |  Recent reports that the Ministry of Education and Sports was considering allowing greater use of mobile phones in post-primary institutions will divide the country in two.

Easier availability of mobile phones, especially among individual students in secondary schools, has one big single benefit. Greater and equal access by everyone to information needed to make their education wholesome.

Students will ideally have unlimited access to internet, thereby having a wide variety of literature to research. It would ideally empower the students with information but also ease the burden of teachers in distributing information to their students

The younger generation that is more into digital than the older generation, find it easier to learn from gadgets than the face to face teaching methods, unless they are reformed.

Indeed, Uganda should shift from rigid forms of teaching and embrace the new technology and devise new ways in which we can help our younger generations benefit from this technology. That is one important lesson from the lock-down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disadvantages however are numerous, and need to be looked at closely before a decision is taken.

First, look at how much time the students spend on their phones while at home. If they cannot be controlled at home, how much easier will it be at school when they are among their peers?

Often, access to the internet needs to be regulated, and unless such mechanisms are in place, apps such as TikTok will leave students with little  time to concentrate on their academics.

I also feel that phones we are mostly likely to see more kids with mental illnesses due to the high levels of peer pressure, as others try  to fit in because trust me we are all from different backgrounds.

To make it worse, it will lead to much more inequality than exists today as not every parent will be able to afford the expenses of a good smartphone with such an economy that we are living in right now.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate students having their phones but I feel like this should have been a well thought out process to deliver equal access, regulate its use, bring teacher and student at the same level of acceptance – before it is implemented.

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TUMUSIIME is a student at UCU