SCHOOLS — MOBILE
PHONES
1022. Hon COLIN TINCKNELL to the Minister for Education and
Training:
(1) With the end
of the school year fast approaching, has the minister or her department taken
any serious action toward implementing my suggestion from 26 June 2019 that Western
Australia follow the example of the Victorian state government and, from the
start of next year, ban mobile phones in schools during the school day?
(2) If not, does
the minister have any intention to implement such a ban in the future
considering the support the idea received in this house previously; and, if so,
when; and, if not, why not?
Hon ALANNA
CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. I answer on behalf of the Minister for Education
and Training.
(1)–(2) We
are in the process right now of consulting with schools that have mobile phone
bans in place and their communities, including parents, students and school
leaders, as well as unions and the professional associations, about what a potential
statewide mobile phone policy might look like. The minister expects to make an
announcement soon.