New laws curbing the use of mobile phones in Finnish schools came into force on Friday.
The Nordic country, long known for its high–quality education, has seen its rating fall in an OECD ranking that measures the competence of 15-year-olds in mathematics, literacy and natural sciences.
An amendment to the Basic Education Act, which bans the use of mobile phones by students aged 7 to 16 while classes are in session, was passed in April. Now phones and other mobile devices can only be used in class with the teacher’s permission for learning purposes, as an aid or for health reasons.
The Finnish National Agency for Education has called for stricter rules than set out in the law, recommending that mobile devices be banned during mealtime and that their use be restricted during breaks.
In the latest round of the OECD assessment for 2022, 41% of Finnish students said the use of digital resources distracted them in all or most mathematics lessons, a figure markedly higher than the OECD average of 31%.
