TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE, 教育部) announced on Jan. 4 that it is revising regulations on phone management in schools and may allow class or school administrators to collect students' phones.
After researching policies regarding mobile device use for children in over 20 countries, the MOE found that most do not enforce a blanket ban on students bringing phones to school. Therefore, it stated that such a ban is unnecessary in Taiwan but stood firm on allowing schools to hold onto students’ phones for the duration of school hours.
Teachers on the front lines have expressed concerns about the potential policy shift, urging the Ministry to establish uniform rules to prevent possible conflicts.
Li Ya-wen (李雅文), vice chairperson of the Kaohsiung Teachers' Union (KTU, 高雄市教師職業工會), highlighted that inconsistent management across classes could lead to student dissatisfaction and parental challenges, as they may question a teacher’s authority in confiscating phones. Li also emphasized that students' varying ages and maturity levels should also be considered when devising management strategies.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy (TYAD, 臺灣青年民主協會), Yang Tzu-ying (楊姿潁), advocated for teaching students proper phone usage rather than outright bans and stressed the importance of including student input in policy discussions.
While some focused merely on the necessity of banning phones in schools,Chen Chien-chih (陳建志), an associate professor at the National Taipei University of Education (NTUE, 國立臺北教育大學), urged the public to look at the bigger picture and on daily device-use habits.
He called on parents to increase interaction with their children and avoid using phone access as a reward. To foster responsible usage, he recommended parents engage in digital literacy education with their children.
The debate over school phone policies continues, with stakeholders calling for balanced approaches in between potential distractions and educational benefits.
