Yerevan Municipality proposes banning, restricting use of smartphones  in schools 

ArmInfo.The Yerevan City Hall is proposing to ban the use of smartphones in schools for students in grades 1-6 and restrict it for those in grades 7-12. The  proposal was made by Margarit Khachatryan, Head of the General  Education Department of the Yerevan City Hall.

Specifically, given the negative consequences for the educational  process-student concentration and academic performance-Khachatryan  proposed banning the use of phones for students in grades 1-6 during  lessons, breaks, and events. In certain cases where a child must  bring a phone to school, she noted, the child must hand it over to  the homeroom teacher at the beginning of the lesson and collect it  only at the end of the lesson.

For students in grades 7-12, the General Education Department  proposed limiting the use of phones/smartphones/smartwatches and  other devices-only at the direction of a teacher and under their  supervision for the educational process.

Before a blanket ban is imposed, this decision is planned to be  implemented in 15 schools in the capital, in order to monitor and  evaluate students' physical, social, and psychological indicators,  activity, and academic performance by the end of the year.

In this regard, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan has instructed that  initial discussions be held with all school principals, the decision  presented, their opinions heard, and a final decision made based on  the assessments received.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that, according to the decision of the  Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of Armenia,  first-grade students will be required to use smartphones during the  educational process, as certain information in textbooks is presented  digitally via QR codes, specifically materials about the Armenian  alphabet and its creator, Mesrop Mashtots.