The cell phone ban will take effect from the beginning of the next school year.
Educational institutions will be required to determine the conditions and procedure for using technical means in the teaching and upbringing process and communication by May 31, 2025.
The proposal was submitted by opposition MP Česlavs Batņa (AS). It has been supported by several factions of the Saeima, as well as the Latvian Education and Science Workers’ Union and the Association of Latvian Education Managers. In the vote, only the “Stability” faction voted against the changes to the law.
The latest UNESCO Global Education Monitoring report, “Technology in Education,” urges countries to set their own conditions for how technology is developed and used in education so that it does not replace face-to-face, teacher-led teaching and learning.
The use of mobile phones in school hours has been banned by the Netherlands, Greece and Italy, but the issue is being discussed in Germany.
The authors of the report call on countries to assess whether technologies are suitable for educational purposes and whether their use provides equal opportunities for all. The report states that there is little convincing evidence of the added value of digital technologies in education, as technology is developing faster than it is said to be possible to assess.
The Saeima also adopted amendments to the law, which will allow schools to search students’ belongings in cases where there is a threat to the safety, health or life of persons. The head of the educational institution or a person authorized by him will be able, in case of danger to the safety, health or life of himself, students, teachers or other persons, to demand that the student present and check his personal belongings, as well as restrict his movement. The Cabinet of Ministers will have to develop relevant procedures by January 31, 2025.
Although the availability of technology and universal design has expanded learning opportunities for people with disabilities, such as the visually impaired, access to technology is assessed as unequal in the report, with only 40% of primary schools, 50% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools globally connected to the Internet.
The report also highlights that teachers often feel unprepared and lack confidence when using technology in the learning process, while only half of countries have standards for developing teachers’ ICT skills. Attention is also drawn to the lack of regulation and control of quality and diversity, and it is also criticized that the long-term impact on the state budget, children’s well-being and the planet is not taken into account in the purchase of technology.
The Saeima also adopted amendments to the law, which will allow schools to search students’ belongings in cases where there is a threat to the safety, health or life of persons. The head of the educational institution or a person authorized by him will be able, in case of danger to the safety, health or life of himself, students, teachers or other persons, to demand that the student present and check his personal belongings, as well as restrict his movement. The Cabinet of Ministers will have to develop relevant procedures by January 31, 2025.
The legislative initiative on the search of students’ belongings was submitted by the President Edgars Rinkēvičs. Several cases have been recorded in Latvia in the past when conflicts took place in an apparently safe environment – an educational institution – in which both children and adults suffered. The cause of such situations has been both the fact that the learner brought in dangerous objects and the fact that there was no proper cooperation between the parents and the educational institution, as a result of which it did not have all the necessary information to ensure the implementation of the educational process in accordance with the learner’s state of health, said the annotation of the bill.
Avoiding violence and other security risks is in the best interests of all learners, therefore any doubts about the right of educational institutions to act immediately if there are reasonable suspicions of security threats should be removed, the annotation states.
Currently, the Education Law already includes an obligation for parents to provide schools with essential information about their child, which is not always fulfilled in practice. The law envisages strengthening the obligation of parents, when applying for the admission of a child to an institution, as well as after a change of circumstances, to inform the school in writing about the child’s state of health and other conditions that can significantly affect the educational process and be important for the persons involved in it.
Added from the 10th paragraph, added the 2nd paragraph