Ministry clashes with municipalities over pupils' phone use in schools

In the ongoing debate on whether Czech schools are legally allowed to ban pupils’ mobile phone usage, the Ministry of Education has ruled that the organization or association in charge of the schools – usually the local municipality – is not able to directly rule on the matter or implement it. Schools can, however, make their own rules.

A school in the Czech city of Vsetín announced last month it would ban children from using their phones during the day from September, opting to make students either leave their phones at home or hand them over to teachers when they arrive at school. Local city councilors in Vsetín mandated this requirement, which also applies to six other elementary schools in the area.

According to the Education Ministry, however, the decision on banning mobile phones isn’t made by the association running the school, but rather by the school principal or director after approval by the school board. One-third of the members of the board are appointed by the association, and the rest are elected according to the law by teaching staff and legal guardians of pupils.

The government says that only when a school board repeatedly fails to approve the director's school rules or any change can the association in charge make the final decision. 

The school law in the Czech Republic allows for schools to limit or prohibit the use of mobile phones such as via storing them in a secure place. The Education Ministry clarified that if schools choose to have students keep their phones in a designated area, such as a locker, only the student and their legal representative should have access to it (for example during lunch breaks). The phone should not be accessed by anyone else, unless in exceptional circumstances.

According to the country’s Education Act, current regulation “allows such extensive strict measures to be implemented,” said central school inspector of the Czech School Inspectorate Tomáš Zatlouka in July.

City Mayor Jiří Čunek, a proponent and adopter of the ban, argues that the ministry should take more decisive action, following the lead of other countries that have implemented a nationwide ban on mobile phones in schools.

"We can have a discussion about legal opinions for months, but children's education and their mental health will not wait," he wrote on social media.

The ban on mobile phones in schools has been implemented in other countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Spain. In France, the ban has been in place since 2018, while in the Netherlands it was recently extended to include secondary schools. In Spain, more and more regions are also restricting the use of mobile phones in primary schools.