Let’s dialogue on the use of mobile phones in schools

We live in a dynamic global Information Technology (IT) age when information rules and we are all told we live in a global village.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been revealed as a potential factor for economic growth and social development.

Meanwhile, there is a back and forth argument on the use of mobile phones by pupils and students in basic and second- cycle institutions in the country.

Last Tuesday, speakers at the fifth quadrennial regional delegates conference of the Greater Accra branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) stirred controversy on the issue of whether mobile phones should be used in basic and second-cycle schools or not.

An educationist and Founder of Gifted and Talented Education (GATE), Mr Anis Haffar, was quoted as advocating the use of mobile phones by students, stressing that it was a backward tendency for students to be restricted from using smartphones in a world that was dominated by technology.

Given our tight budgets, successive governments have not been able to equip all schools with sufficient computers to enhance the learning of ICT and also encourage students to do research.

However, smartphones can be used in place of computers and be sources of knowledge dissemination and acquisition and effective learning for students.

But not everybody holds that view.

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The General Secretary of GNAT, Mr David Ofori Acheampong, was of the belief that opening the floodgates for smartphones to be used in basic and second-cycle institutions would be suicidal for the country.

He noted that even adults, during discussions of serious issues at a meeting, were seen fidgeting with their mobile phones.

While there may be merits and demerits in both positions, the Daily Graphic thinks the time has come for dialogue on the subject, so that the outcome will be owned by all.

It is a fact that mobile phones in the hands of schoolchildren can be a nuisance, as some children will spend their precious time playing games and fidgeting with their phones, at the expense of teaching and learning processes.

However, the Daily Graphic believes that whichever way the argument goes, we are in a technological world and Ghana cannot afford to lag behind the worldwide web revolution.

We think this debate should move away from the classroom to the world of work, where most people, even at the corporate executive level, spend time on their phones, instead of concentrating on business at meetings and conferences.

Mobile phones are devices that have simplified our way of life, even on the farms, at the marketplace and workplace, but if their use is not regulated, ICT can be counter-productive.