What are these smartphone ‘pouches’ being introduced in schools? And how do they work?
There is “incontrovertible” evidence that secondary school students do better academically and socially when they are deprived of access to their phones during classes, Minister for Education Norma Foley has said.
It was announced in Budget 2025 that €9 million is to be provided to fund efforts to keep students off their phones during the school day, including the provision of secure pouches to store the devices in.
Speaking at the Department of Education’s post-budget briefing on Wednesday, Ms Foley said the initiative follows feedback from parents and schools and aims to improve students’ mental wellbeing and their education experience.
What is the current situation?
Schools generally ban access to mobile phones during classes and many require that they are put in lockers for the duration of the school day.
Is a student having phone access in school a problem?
There is a substantial amount of research on the issue of mobile phone use in schools and most suggests students benefit from moves to restrict access.
A University of Chicago study found students whose phones were less accessible, for example locked away in another room, outperformed those whose phones were closer by.
OECD research has suggested mobile phone bans are a good way of reducing distractions, but this also found almost a third of students circumvented the rules, meaning implementation needs to become more systematic.
