The Minister of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Poli Suárez, announced this Thursday that he will submit a consultation to the School Council of the Canary Islands on the possible regional regulation of the use of mobile phones and other devices in the educational centers of the Archipelago. This is the highest body for participation and advice of the Autonomous Executive in educational matters,
“Until now, unofficially, we have talked about the possibility of seeing how the use of mobile devices is managed in educational centers,” Suárez said in recent days, for whom “it is an issue that we have to start to assess more formally, but with the educational community and with expert reports.”
By now transferring this consultation to the body chaired by Natalia Álvarez, the Ministry is taking the first steps to officially study the convenience or not of the measure.
“There are positions for and against, but we need an in-depth study, listen to professionals and count on the educational community,” the counselor emphasizes.
In the Canary Islands, the regulation of this issue is, until now, in the hands of the educational centers themselves, which, in the exercise of their autonomy, decide on the use of mobile phones by students inside them. However, in recent times, different national and international groups and specialists have pointed to the need to limit this use not only in schools, but until children reach a certain age, which has led the Ministry to want to gather as much information and consensus as possible before a definitive position.
The School Council of the Canary Islands is made up of representatives from the different sectors of the educational field, from personnel to unions, including families, students and businesses, as well as Island Councils, City Councils and other institutions and personalities, which makes it an ideal and especially legitimate instrument for a consultation of these characteristics.
