The National Party is promising to ban cell phones in schools to help lift students' declining achievement levels, National Party leader Christopher Luxon said.
The opposition leader announced the election promise this morning, saying that student achievement had "declined over the past three decades, jeopardising kids' future livelihoods and threatening New Zealand's future prosperity".
Luxon told Breakfast global studies show that banning its use in the classroom "actually leads to improved learning outcomes for our kids".
"Our major problem in New Zealand is student achievement. When half our kids show up at high school not at the standard they need to be, half our 15 year olds failed the most basic maths, reading and writing test, New Zealand's out of the top 10 countries — that's what I'm fixated on," he said.
"I am here to improve academic achievement for our kids so they are set up for a much better future. Phones are a massive disturbance and distraction and we're going to take it off the table."
He dismissed concerns around potential problem behaviour from students unable to access their phones, or hiding them on their person or in bags, saying there are "many schools in New Zealand that already ban phones" successfully.
The ban is expected lift student achievement levels, leader Christopher Luxon says. (Source: Breakfast)
Luxon said he visited one school yesterday which asks parents not to allow their primary- and intermediate-aged children to bring cell phones to school, and those who do need them must drop their phones off at reception before being picked up at the end of the school day. Exemptions are made for different health needs.
There are other schools which ask for phones to be stowed away, while others require students to place them in a pouch or basket in their homeroom.
"There's lots of ways that schools will choose to do it and of course, the enforcements for breaking school rules are what they already have as available to them today that they can use in that case," he said.
But Education Minister Jan Tinetti said the rules for how schools operate are up to "individual school boards of trustees, rather than the Government".
"Schools can ban cell phones at school if they believe this is appropriate and I understand that many already do," she said in a statement.
"Introducing a Government ordered national ban is unnecessary, and shows a lack of understanding of how schools operate in New Zealand."
She said introducing a blanket ban "would undermine schools who are best placed to make this decision, as it needs to be made on a case by case basis to take into account learners who may need phones for accessibility reasons".
SHARE ME