The new legislation that restricts the use of mobile phones in Finnish schools entered into force on Friday, a week before the beginning of the school year, AFP reports.
This northern country, long renowned for the quality of its education, has decreased significantly in a ranking of OECD (the organization for cooperation and economic development) that measures the skills of mathematics, reading and natural sciences of 15-year-old students, writes Agerpres.
Finland adopted in April a law that prohibits the use of mobile phones by students between the ages of 7 and 16 during the class hours.
From now on, electronic phones and devices can only be used in the classroom for educational purposes, as a support tool or for health reasons, with the teacher's permission.
The schools are left free to organize themselves.
At Varkaus, in the east of the country, a school with about 700 students will ask them to hold their phones in the backpacks or in the cabinets all day, including during the break, the public television station Yle, while in Tampere (western country), will be allowed to use their smartphone during the building.
The Finnish National Agency for Education had recommended stricter rules than those provided by law: their prohibition during meals and restricting their use during the break.
According to the most recent OCDE report published in 2022, 41% of Finnish students said that the exposure to screens had distracted in all or in most mathematics lessons, a significantly higher figure than the OCDE average, which is 31%.
