Formulate policy on mobile phone use in SHSs

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Telecommunications Chamber, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, last Saturday resurrected the debate on the use of mobile phones by senior high school (SHS) students when he addressed the 88th Speech and Prize-giving Day of his former school, the St Augustine’s College, in Cape Coast.

Mr Ashigbey called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to formulate policies that would allow SHS students to use mobile phones as learning tools in school.

The issue of whether mobile phones should be used in basic and second-cycle schools in the country or not recently stirred controversy, with two opposing schools of thought.

While one group was highly opposed to the use of mobile phones in school by SHS students, the other was of the opinion that allowing students to use mobile phones will be of immense benefit to their studies.

The debate took a national character when the Founder of Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), Mr Anis Haffar, advocated the use of mobile phones by students at the fifth quadrennial regional delegates conference of the Greater Accra branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in Accra.

Delivering the keynote address at the conference, Mr Haffar, himself an educationist, noted that it was backward for students to be prevented from using smart phones in a world dominated by technology.

But the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) said it was highly opposed to allowing SHS students to use mobile phones in school because it would cause distraction of attention, for which reason it would go to every length to enforce the ban on phone use by students.

The Daily Graphic takes sides with Mr Ashigbey on his suggestion and calls on the Ministry of Education and the GES to quicken the process of lifting the ban on mobile phone use in our SHSs.

We recall that some time in August last year, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, gave an indication that the ministry was considering lifting the ban on the use of mobile phones in SHSs.

We note that mobile phone use in SHSs is something we cannot do away with. There was a time when, to solve certain mathematical equations, students were allowed the use of only four-figure mathematical tables (which Maths students of today may not know about). The use of calculators then was an offence.

But, presently, no student enters SHS without being asked to own a scientific calculator. The same can be said of telephones. We have moved from the days when the only phones on school compounds were those in the offices of the heads of those schools.

The truth is that many students in our SHSs use mobile phones in school, courtesy their teachers, housemasters and housemistresses.

That is why it is our view that proper policies need to be formulated to regulate mobile phone use, instead of the blanket ban. Already, tablets supplied to educational institutions have programmes tailored to help students in their studies.

All we need to do is put in the proper mechanisms and regulations to ensure that the students make good use of the phones. We trust that we have capable teachers who will be able to supervise students on the proper use of their mobile phones when the ban is lifted and the right rules put in place.