The Andalusian Regional Minister for Educational Development and Vocational Training, Patricia del Pozo, has announced that she will apply in Andalusian classrooms the recommendations made public today by the Andalusian School Council on the use of mobile phones in schools, which will mean an increase in the restrictions already implemented by the Regional Ministry through instructions issued on 4 December. Their application, as proposed by the Andalusian education community’s highest participatory and consultative body, will be carried out by amending the decrees that regulate the operation of schools.
The Andalusian School Council has proposed restricting «any type of use of mobile phones and other similar personal devices up to and including the second year of ESO» in all schools under the jurisdiction of the Regional Ministry. From the third year of ESO onwards, it recommends «limiting their use during the school day to certain specific moments for exclusively didactic purposes and with pedagogical criteria duly justified in the educational project of the centres, taking into account, in any case, the age of the students, their maturity and their psycho-evolutionary characteristics». The regulation extends to the entire school day, including breaks, complementary and extracurricular activities and transport, and to all areas of schools, including canteens, corridors and common areas.