Vice President and Department of Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday said she supports the Senate bill that would ban the use of smartphones and gadgets during class time.
“I am in favor of banning gadgets for personal use, but there should be exceptions,” Duterte told reporters after the 126th Independence Day ceremony here.
Exceptions include when the gadgets are being used for student learning or teacher instruction.
“I understand these [exemptions] During the draft [of the Bill]and I read the draft,” she added.
Senator Wynn Gatchalian on June 11 filed Senate Bill No. 2706, or the “Electronics-Free Schools Bill,” which bans the use of electronic and mobile devices on school premises during school hours.
The bill mandates the Ministry of Education to develop guidelines for K-12 learners and teachers in both public and private basic education institutions.
However, the proposed bill highlighted learning-related exemptions, such as classroom presentations, health and wellbeing matters (learners with health conditions will require the use of devices), emergencies, and field trips and extracurricular activities.
Gatchalian, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, acknowledged the need to restrict the use of mobile devices and other electronic devices because students are more likely to become involved in cyberbullying.
The senator also cited results from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) on the impact of gadget use during class, with eight in 10 15-year-old students reporting being distracted by smartphone use during class, and the same number recording being distracted by other students’ smartphone use.
The evaluation revealed that distractibility correlated with a 9.3-point decrease in math grades, a 12.2-point decrease in science grades, and a 15.04-point decrease in reading grades.