Teachers in Haryana are now prohibited from using mobile phones in classrooms. The state government on Thursday released a set of guidelines which requires teaches not to bring their mobile phones to the classrooms unless it is an academic emergency.
“If a teacher happens to head the institution, they will have to take care that neither they nor other teachers indulge in this fancy as fresh guidelines have been issued by the Haryana Education Department in this regard. It (mobile phone) shall be kept stashed away in the staff room or in an area earmarked by the head of school…If for some unavoidable reasons, mobile phone is required to be taken to the class-room for academic use by a teacher, prior permission should be taken from the head of school for reasons to be recorded in a register to be maintained for this purpose,” the guidelines say. Read | HRD to roll out training programmes for first-time teachers, varsity heads, click here
In case of emergency, the school head and the second senior in-charge, or clerk, should keep a contact number each, the guidelines say, adding that mobile phones can be utilised in a confined area away from the classrooms to save students from the disturbance and external influence of mobile phones.
“All inspecting officers, whether on regular inspection or surprise inspections, shall check whether compliance of these instructions is being made meticulously or not. In case of any violation, action against the head of school shall be proposed by the inspecting officer. If any substantive complaint is received from students or general public, that the guidelines are being violated on a campus, the head of that school shall be held squarely accountable,” the statement says.
The guidelines pointed out that teachers are using mobile phones in classrooms for personal instead of professional reasons and this is diverting the teaching hours to unproductive activities and hampering teachers’ contribution to academics.
“Mobile phone has recently emerged as the single gadget which has started consuming class time of some teachers. Social media or other entertainment scopes of mobile phones hardly contribute anything towards the syllabus which is to be taught to the students on the school campus,” the guidelines say. They add that the mobile phones may be used for creative teaching purposes.
[Source”cnbc”]
