Switch off! No phones in class

February 8: The move to ban teachers from using mobile phones during work has sparked off a debate among academicians who are not convinced whether the move will improve the quality of teaching in government-run educational institutions.
The new regulation has also not gone down well with the teaching fraternity, who feel that a ban on cellphone use is unfair, and would curtail their freedom to a great extent.
All the faculty, including headmasters and principals of colleges, is prohibited from chatting on mobile phones while on duty, as the government claims to have received a number of complaints from parents and students, saying that the teachers were idling their time chatting away in class, in clear defiance of rules already in place.
It was because teachers in private and government schools paid no attention to guidelines which said a clear no to use of mobiles in classrooms, that the government was left with no choice but to step in and put a stop to the practice, says the department of public instruction (DPI). “Teachers could not care less about DPI orders against using mobiles in classrooms. So the government decided it was time to extend the ban to the campus as a whole. Now not only can they not use mobiles while in classroooms, but also in the grounds of their institutes,” explain DPI officers.
This time the DPI will be expected to very strictly monitor the ban which will apply to government as well as unaided schools and colleges, says primary and secondary education minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kaageri. Squads formed by block education officers will conduct surprise raids and teachers using mobiles may find themselves facing disciplinary action.
But Karnataka State Private Schools Management Association general secretary Soodi Suresh thinks the ban is drastic. While agreeing that teachers must keep their mobiles switched off in classrooms, he feels that not permitting them to use them altogether while at work, is taking things a bit too far. “It is unfair to stop teachers from using mobiles the entire day while at school or college,” he says. A few teachers, however, shrug off the ban as unimportant. “It is a good move, which will allow teachers to set an example,” says Rajathshri, a BBMP primary school teacher.