According to the Principal of Morgan Zintec, headmasters and teachers should be more flexible and allow their students to bring in cellphones and use them as part of their learning process.
Dr Tonderai James Zendah was addressing school heads at the National Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) conference in Victoria Falls on Wednesday:
We have a situation whereby pupils are searched when they board buses to go to school because we want to make sure they don’t carry smartphones.
We as headmasters brag to our colleagues about how strict we are on this issue not knowing that we are being enemies of progress.
Let us not stifle technology. I prefer we move a gear up and allow cell phones in school but probably those with specific software.
The debate whether to allow students to bring in cellphones and use them in school as raged across the worlds. The matter is made complicated by the fact that cellphones these days take the form of smartphones which are really not just cellphones anymore but mini computers.
Those against the use of cellphones say they are an uneeded distraction that will interfere with the learning process as students become distracted by alerts and messages.
On the other hand, others argue that in today’s world cellphones are more than just phones and can be used as an aid to the learning process. As the Dr Zendah pointed above, cellphones can be loaded with learning apps and actually enhance the learning process.
The debate exists in developed countries as well. Pindula News, one of friendly blogs cite an example of France that banned cellphones in primary and junior schools.
I feel such countries can afford to do so. Classrooms are already equipped with the necessary technology to the extent that French pupils can put away their cellphones and still be able to plug into the world. Schools in Zimbabwe often lack the elearning equipment and therefore cellphones are much needed.
