The ban is scheduled to expand to the entire country in January 2025, if the test goes well.
Almost 200 schools and institutes in France are testing this week the “digital pause”, that is, the total ban on mobile phones in classrooms. The goal is to reduce screen time and combat cyberbullying, a well-received measureboth by the staff of the centers and by the students.
If the test is successful, the ban will be expanded to all schools starting January 2025.
At the Claudine Hermann high school, on the southern outskirts of Paris, students start the morning handing over their smartphones. “This way the students get used to being without their phones all day and learn to live differently, even during recessinstead of always being aware of them,” explains Fabien Leroux, school supervisor.
Victor, an 11-year-old student, said: “We are here to have fun, so there is no point in having a phone” Halima, another sixth-grade student, agreed: “I think it’s a very good idea, because cell phones can be distracting during classes. “It’s better not to have them in front of you during class.”
Mobile phones are kept in five briefcases during the school day. The institute invested 300 euros per briefcase, covering the expense out of its own pocket. The State does not contribute to financing these testsleaving the financial burden to fall on the country’s departments responsible for funding the centers, some of which consider it too heavy.
François Sauvadet, president of the Association of French Departments, estimates that if the ban were applied throughout the country, could cost the 7,000 secondary education centers around 125 million euros only in new equipment, according to national media.
However, France’s outgoing Education Minister Nicole Belloubet disagrees. During a visit to Claudine Hermann High School on Tuesday, she stated: “The financial costs seem quite modest to me. The briefcases chosen by this school to store the cell phones cost about 60 euros each and were paid for with their own funds.”
“But, of course, I wouldn’t want there to be any misunderstanding with the Association of French Departments. I will contact them again if any clarification needs to be made,” Belloubet explained in an interview with ‘Euronews’.
As a new government has not yet been formed after the early parliamentary elections Convened by President Emmanuel Macron, the interim administration is managing day-to-day affairs. The decision on whether this ban should be extended to the entire country next year will be made by the future Minister of Education.
