West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday hinted at banning mobile phones in schools while citing the example of Gujarat where students up to Class 12 are banned from bringing mobile phones to schools.
“Mobile phones have a huge negative impact on school children. It will be a tough decision and I may lose votes. In Gujarat mobile phone are banned for students up to Class 12.
Even after their parents go off to sleep, the students remain awake till around 2am, watching mobile phones,” Adhikari said.
The CM was speaking at a government program on Teachers’ Day in Kolkata where he launched the Swami Vivekananda Merit Scholarship Scheme and the Transfer Management Module of College Teachers. The schools, in the line of central schools, will have the best teachers, advanced laboratories and smart class rooms.
He also said that the state has plans to reintroduce the traditional games and sports in schools such as Kho-kho, kabaddi. The CM said that every district in the state would have two “CM Shri” model schools to train the best students who would be selected through exams in Class 6. He said that the government would set up two sports facilities in the state where the best talents would receive training. Adhikari said that the School Service Commission has been reconstituted and teacher would be recruited in a transparent manner following the orders of the Supreme Court and Calcutta high court without any allowing any illegality to creep in. “If reforms are not introduced then the whole education system and the concept of Teachers’ Day will be rendered meaningless,” he said.
