A new bill, Senate Bill 2706 or the proposed Electronic Gadget-Free Schools Act, has been introduced in the Senate to prohibit the use of mobile phones and gadgets by students and teachers in both public and private schools during class hours.
Senate basic education committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian, who filed the bill, highlighted the detrimental effects of excessive mobile device use on students’ academic performance. The proposed legislation aims to ban the use of phones and other electronic gadgets on school premises, including classrooms, laboratories, and other facilities, during class hours.
The bill specifies that teachers and faculty members are also restricted from using their gadgets during designated teaching times, with exceptions only for learning-related activities, health and well-being needs, and risk management.
The Department of Education (DepEd) is tasked with developing guidelines for implementing this ban and ensuring compliance across both public and private institutions. Schools that fail to comply with the guidelines will face sanctions, and students violating school policies will also be subject to disciplinary actions.
Gatchalian pointed to data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, which revealed significant distractions among Filipino students due to smartphone use, negatively impacting their performance in mathematics, science, and reading. The lawmaker also noted concerns about the role of mobile devices in facilitating cyberbullying.
The bill is supported by findings from the 2023 Global Education Monitoring report by UNESCO, which advocates for stricter regulations on mobile phone use in schools. The report indicates that only a small percentage of countries currently have laws or policies banning or regulating phone use in educational settings.
