From the beginning of the new school year, Singapore students will not be allowed to use smartphones and smartwatches during school hours.
This includes recess and after-school programmes such as co-curricular activities (CCAs), said Minister of State for Education Jasmin Lau in a Facebook post on Sunday (30 Nov).
Source: Jasmin Lau on Facebook
Ms Lau said that being a parent herself, she was “concerned” about the environment that Singapore’s children are growing up in.
Recounting that her kids were curious about screens since they were in preschool, she noted that “habits form early” among children.
Thus, while she acknowledged that technology can be helpful in daily life and has become part of our education system, “we need to find a healthy balance”.
Source: Jasmin Lau on Facebook
The Ministry of Education (MOE) will therefore be tightening screen use measures “to support healthier habits”, Ms Lau said.
From January next year, secondary school students will not be allowed to use smartphones and smartwatches during school hours.
This will apply even outside lesson time, such as during recess, CCAs, and enrichment lessons.
Current guidelines only stipulate that secondary school students should not use smartphones or smartwatches during lesson time.
Additionally, the default sleep hours for the Device Management app in personal learning devices will be adjusted to 10.30pm.
This is 30 minutes earlier than the current default timing of 11pm.
The change is “to encourage better sleep”, said Ms Lau, who is also Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and Minister-in-charge of GovTech.
Source: Annie Spratt on Unsplash. Photo for illustration purposes only.
In a statement on Sunday, MOE said smartwatches will also be included under the new guidelines as they have apps for messaging and social media.
As such, they can distract users and cause them to reduce interaction with peers.
The devices will be kept in school bags or designated storage areas such as lockers during school hours.
However, schools may make exceptions and allow students to use smartphones “where necessary”.
The move comes after a survey by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) showed that many children exceeded the daily screen time limits recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
The survey, which was conducted in February and whose results were released in September, also noted that 59% of parents wanted more Government support to help them manage their child’s digital activities.
In January, MOH released an updated advisory on screen use in children, recommending that children aged seven to 12 have less than two hours of screen use a day, unless related to schoolwork.
Also read: Boy in M’sia bursts into tears after parents get police to scold him for excessive phone use
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Featured image adapted from Jasmin Lau on Facebook.