The Conselleria d'Educació will order all schools in Catalonia, public and private, to formally regulate the use of mobile phones in their centers. The administration document that will be a framework of clear criteria and guidelines will be published in January and then schools will debate it and incorporate their own standards into their center.
The department does not yet know if this document prepared by the school councils of each school will be immediately applicable (in the second or third quarter of this year) or will be mandatory in the next academic year 2024-2025.
At the moment, only 52% of schools and institutes have it formally regulated, as reported by Education. The goal is for 100% of them to have it.
The Secretary of Educational Transformation, Joan Ignasi García-Plata, explained this morning that he does not want to give an "imperative mandate" on the prohibition of mobile phones in schools but rather to promote the participation of school communities so that there is internal discussion on this issue. In these communities he has emphasized the convenience of both students and parents being present, keys in the digital education of their children.
The secretary has stated that a citizen environment is not the same as a rural one, a school is not the same as an institute, or a Vocational Training center.
Therefore, the guidelines will consider aspects such as use during school hours, in spaces of the building such as hallways, libraries or patios. Also the extracurricular activities that take place in the center itself. Indications will also be given by age groups. "There are children who are 9 or 10 years old who already have a cell phone and their presence affects the entire community, which is why the educational factor is important," said García-Plata.
The department will collect the participatory process being carried out by the School Council of Catalonia, which will deliver a recommendation document to the administration in the month of December. Currently, the 12 territorial services are working to specify the key elements in the debate, as announced by Councilor Anna Simó at the beginning of the school year.
This debate coincides with the initiative of a group of parents that proposes banning cell phones before the age of 16 and which has turned out to be viral. García-Plata welcomed debates of this type that expand awareness about the use of mobile phones and the responsibility of parents in their delivery. Likewise, she highlighted that digital education must be shared between schools and families.
However, Education is not in favor of the prohibition in educational centers but rather that each one take their position on the matter based on the needs and opportunities provided by technology. "Prohibiting does not have the pedagogical meaning that we want to promote," he stated.
According to the department survey, which defines only the centers that have transferred their regulation on the use of mobile phones to a formal document on operating rules and which excludes those centers that have communicated their rules to students and families, 3% allow cell phone free while 26% do not even allow it to be taken to the center.
Taking into account that the survey is multi-response, and the addresses can mark more than one option, in 44%, students must leave it before entering the building.
In other schools, spaces are designated (16%) and in others only during playground time (12%). In the vast majority (67%) the use is at specific times and at the discretion of the teachers.
