Consultation on Edinburgh schools mobile phone ban sees more responses than tram consultation
Edinburgh council's consultation on banning mobile phones in schools has produced more responses than the recent consultation on the city's proposed North-South tramline.
So far, over 12,300 people have sent in their views on the plan to stop pupils using their phones in school. And there are still five days to go for people to have their say.
Education convener James Dalgleish hailed the response as “brilliant” and urged others who had not yet completed the online questionnaire to do so.
The five-week consultation, which ends on Monday, March 2, is asking parents, carers, pupils and staff if they back the roll-out to all Edinburgh’s secondary schools of the scheme which has been running as a pilot at Queensferry and Portobello high schools, where pupils must put their phones in lockable pouches.
Although the pilot is still under way, the council says reports are it is working well.
The recent consultation on the proposed tramline from Granton to the Royal Infirmary and beyond ran for 12 weeks, closing in November, and saw a total of 11,425 responses. Officials are still analysing the comments.
In September, the city council’s education committee agreed in principle that there should be a ban on mobile phones in the Capital’s schools, but also decided to consult on how it should work.
Under the pilot ban, pupils at Queensferry High must lock their phones in the pouches when they arrive at school in the morning and can only unlock them when they leave at the end of the day, while at Portobello High the pupils are allowed to access their phones at lunchtime.
At both schools, pupils with medical or additional support needs who require easy access to their phones are using Velcro pouches so that their phones are secure and away while also easily accessible.
The proposal is that primary schools, where a phone ban is seen as more straightforward, phone would be kept in a lockable cabinet rather than pouches.
Councillor Dalgleish said he wanted to encourage people to make sure they filled out the consultation.
“There's just a few days left,” he said. “Over 12,000 people have already responded, which is brilliant. The tram consultation was the only comparable consultation of late and we have exceeded that, which is great.
“So, I just want to make sure, if we're going to do this right, it's about getting the voice of parents, of pupils, of teachers, of everyone who cares about it."
There are three separate consultation channels on the council’s consultation hub, where the different affected groups can respond to the proposals:
Parents/carers: Mobile Phones in Schools - Parent/Carer survey - City of Edinburgh Council - Citizen Space