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Parents, teachers decry directive to allow mobile phones in schools
Many parents, teachers, and other sections of the public wonder how government will restrict Internet use so that the learners do not access illegal sites. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Many parents, teachers, and other sections of the public wondered how government would restrict Internet use so that the learners do not access illegal sites
A section of the public yesterday questioned the methods that the government is going to deploy to ensure that the morals of students are not eroded in schools when it allows mobile phones to be used as learning tools.
This follows a revelation by Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education, that the government had lifted the ban on visiting students and also allowed students to carry smart phones to school to increase ICT access.
Many parents, teachers, and other sections of the public, who spoke to Monitor yesterday, wondered how government would restrict Internet use so that the learners do not access illegal sites.
Ms Carolyne Masinde, a Primary Four teacher at Ntinda Primary School, said it would be difficult to teach learners with more advanced gadgets.
“A child with a more advanced smartphone compared to what I own as a teacher will definitely start despising me because the parents are richer and they can afford state of the art phones,” she said.
Mr Peter Genza, a computer scientist, said arming children with phones to study is worrying because their brains do not have the capacity to handle the amount of information they will be exposed to.
“The Internet has a lot of trash like paedophiles, porn vendors and child predators, how will the government ensure that these kids do not access such materials?” he asked.
Ms Rashida Nalule, a pediatric nurse at the Uganda Cancer Institute, said: “I do not support the idea because it will lower the concentration levels of children. As adults, during conferences, the moment you get a phone call, you are forced to go and respond to it,” she said.
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