- Schools in England will be required to ensure mobile phones are completely inaccessible to pupils during the school day under new, tougher government guidance.
- Education secretary Lucy Powell announced the revised rules, set to take effect in September next year, to help create truly phone-free classrooms.
- Headteachers and teaching unions have warned that implementing measures such as lockable pouches or secure storage will require significant additional government funding.
- A Department for Education survey found that only 16 per cent of secondary pupils currently report that school mobile phone rules are followed all of the time.
- The government is also launching a consultation on independent safety certification for educational technology products used in schools.
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