Manitoba, now the only western Canadian province without an overarching cellphone ban in school classrooms, says an update is coming.
“Manitoba’s plan on cellphone use in classrooms will be revealed later this week,” Ryan Stelter, a spokesman for Premier Wab Kinew, said Monday in a statement.
Manitoba became the only western Canadian province that has not introduced plans to restrict cellphones in schools following Saskatchewan’s decision last week to ban the use of the devices in the upcoming school year.
Saskatchewan’s policy applies to all kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms, and followed announcements in Alberta, B.C., Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
The bans are designed to reduce distractions and help students focus in class.
Manitoba’s education department says right now it is up to individual school divisions to develop and enforce technology use policies in their schools – but in a statement, the department said it is talking to stakeholders “to ensure that provincial curriculum and use-of-technology guidelines are updated to be responsive to current technology-use patterns.”
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have already called for a provincewide ban.
(Article courtesy of The Canadian Press – August 12, 2024)
