What’s even more fascinating is that the growth of mobile internet is also at its nascent stage which is ought to become increasingly popular amongst the net-savvy younger generation – in this era of low-cost mobile handsets offering smart features.

Here is significant news – Gujarat government has banned use of mobile phones in schools and colleges, saying it was affecting educational activities in the institutes.

In a first of its kind decision taken by any state in the country, a resolution to this effect was passed by the Gujarat’s state education department saying students up to class 12 will not be allowed to take cell phones inside the school premises.

Well, that’s not all – even teachers, staff, parents and visitors will not be allowed to use mobile phones in places like classroom, library and laboratory. While college students will be allowed to carry their handsets, they won’t be permitted to use it.

Banning Mobile Phones in Education Institutes – A step in right direction…

How many of us consider mobile phones as a need (an unavoidable gadget!) rather than a want? Well, almost all of us are accustomed to using mobile phones since at least few years now. It certainly serves as an inevitable communication medium in this fast moving age. But, does life start and end with it?…

While the teaching community has been overwhelmingly in favor of mobile phone bans, parents are more enthusiastic about their children being allowed to carry cell phones at school. Some teachers point out that cell phones do not exactly have legitimate academic uses during the classroom sessions.

These days, parents are more open-minded in allowing their children to take cellular telephones to classes in case of emergencies. But, doesn’t that defeat the schooling aspect? The main objective of schooling is to imparting education and knowledge. Socializing with friends can always be done before or after the school timings.

The world was always on during our schooling times, when cell phones were not part of the package of the communication culture of our life. In fact, cell phones might bring with it the nuisance value in a rather codified environment of schooling. A major aspect of schooling is discipline and learning – and that’s what they are designated for. Thus, detractors say that drawbacks to student cell phones outweigh the benefits.

Imagine a loud mobile phone ringing in between a classroom session – won’t teacher lose his/her attention, not to mention the woes of the distracted students? Or for that matter a student who is not interested in a particular subject, checking his SMS diary during a classroom discussion. And, what about cheating and inappropriate photos – which could be a by-product of a handset, loaded with a sophisticated camera?

I’m not against permitting cell phones to be used in case of emergencies, but permitting it to remain on and distracting students during the classroom hours is definitely a ‘no-no’ for me. In fact, use of cell phones could be useful to both parents and students when scheduling after-school activities and other plans – but, that is, if such plans are not charted out during the official schooling hours.

I have my own set of apprehensions when it comes to laws governing to partially limiting the use of cell phones during the teaching hours without banning cell phones completely. Setting such limits and initiating actions such as confiscating phones from students caught using them during inappropriate times could be met with little success – and, moreover, hinders the definition of ‘schooling’ to ‘policing’ students.

What’s your view on this sensitive issue?