The Osaka Prefectural Board of Education Secretariat presented draft guidelines to municipal boards of education on Monday permitting elementary and junior high school students at public schools to carry smartphones and mobile phones as a mode of contact during disasters and other emergencies.
The move would mark the first time a prefecture or government-designated major city has allowed students to carry a mobile device. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry bans in principle students from carrying such devices at schools.
The education ministry is moving toward a new policy. At a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, education minister Masahiko Shibayama said he intends to review the ministry policy on the ban in principle on possession of mobile devices.
The new policy will be decided as early as within fiscal 2019 following consultations with parents, guardians and school personnel.
Following an earthquake in northern Osaka Prefecture in June last year that occurred while students were on their way to school, parents and guardians called for students to be allowed to carry mobile devices, as they had difficulty confirming the safety of their children.
Until the earthquake, the prefectural government had directed municipal boards of education to ban possession of mobile devices "to promote relief from addiction to mobile devices." In October last year, however, the policy was changed to permit students to carry such devices.
The guidelines specify that students may only use smartphones and similar devices when permitted by their schools, such as during disasters, as well as during emergencies that occur while commuting to and from school.
Various other conditions are stipulated as follows:
-- Devices must be kept in bags and not be used, except during emergencies.
-- Students will manage their devices.
-- If the rules are violated, the school will confiscate the device and return it to the student's parents and guardians.
-- Schools will recommend appropriate uses of devices.
Each municipal school board will decide whether to allow possession of mobile devices and when to implement the new rules. Formal guidelines will be issued to the boards of education for Osaka city, Sakai and all other municipalities in the prefecture around late March.
In justifying the rule change, the guidelines note that many elementary and junior high schools already allow students to carry mobile devices if requested by a parent or guardian. Whether a student carries a mobile device "will be at the discretion of his or her guardian. [The prefectural board of education] will neither recommend nor deny [the carrying of mobile devices]."
The guidelines also address students' use of mobile devices outside of school, stipulating that they should use their devices for a maximum of 30 minutes on weekdays and 60 minutes on days off, and that improper language is prohibited on social media.
"We want municipalities to consider methods of implementation suited to their circumstances," said a section chief in charge at the prefectural board of education secretariat.
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