By Bill Heaney
Classrooms must be “safe places to learn” Scottish Labour has said ahead of a parliamentary vote on mobile phone use.
Today (Wednesday 1) Scottish Labour will hold a debate in Holyrood calling for a real ban on mobile phones in classrooms.
The SNP has faced criticism for failing to set robust rules at a national level on mobile phone use in schools, instead leaving it to individual schools and teachers to set and enforce rules.
Scottish Labour has pledged to introduce a national ban on mobile phones in classrooms as part of wider efforts to deal with disruption and bullying in schools.
Scottish Labour Education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy, above right, said “Classrooms should be safe places to learn, but under the SNP violence is on the rise, bullying is rife and attention spans are shortening.
“Teachers are going above and beyond to support pupils, but they are being let down by a vacuum in leadership from the SNP.
“We owe it to the next generation to give them the best possible education and it is a total dereliction of duty for the SNP to pass the buck on so many of the key issues facing our schools.
“Parents and teachers have told us time and time that banning mobile phones would improve our education system overnight – it’s time for the SNP to listen.”