Hungary sacks principal for opposing new phone ban in schools
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Hungary is among countries that are trying to crack down on the use of mobile devices in the classroom.
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BUDAPEST – Hungary has fired a principal whose high school sought to resist a new government regulation banning mobile phones in the classroom.
The head of the Imre Madach high school, an elite public institution in Budapest, was dismissed for flouting the new law, according to an Interior Ministry statement published on MTI state news service on Aug 28.
Hungary is among countries that are trying to crack down on the use of mobile devices in the classroom, which the government has said are a source of distraction.
Earlier in August, Prime Minister Viktor Orban signed a decree that mandates that from Sept 1, phones and so-called smart devices must be handed in at the start of the school day and can be returned only after classes are over.
The staff at Imre Madach published a statement on Aug 19 saying they would not confiscate phones, which are used as part of the teaching process. They did say they plan to regulate their use more strictly.
“The pedagogical goal of our school is to teach the proper employment of digital culture rather than its ban,” the teachers said. BLOOMBERG
