Cyprus is to ban mobile phone use in schools, the education minister said on Wednesday, saying they were too much of a distraction for students and led to anti-social behaviour.
Cyprus will follow several European states in enacting a ban following recommendations from the U.N. agency UNESCO © Mena Today
Cyprus is to ban mobile phone use in schools, the education minister said on Wednesday, saying they were too much of a distraction for students and led to anti-social behaviour.
Authorities plan to introduce the ban once it is discussed with parliament, Minister Athena Michaelidou said.
Cyprus will follow several European states in enacting a ban following recommendations from the U.N. agency UNESCO, she said.
"It's clear that the use of a mobile phone distracts students from their lessons, but primarily, its linked to an increase in anti-social behaviour," Michaelidou said.
Students will not be banned from bringing their phones to school but they will not be able to switch them on, she said.
Official data shows that just over 1.4 million mobile phones are operating in Cyprus - more than its population of just under 1 million people in government-controlled areas.
Reporting by Michele Kambas
Israel's military has cleared Hezbollah fighters holed up in tunnels under the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday, though the Iran-backed group did not immediately comment.
The schoolyard in southern Lebanon echoed with the squeals of playing children despite the beating sun and distant booms of Israeli airstrikes. But for most of the youth there, the public school isn't where they learn. It's where they live.
Syria has begun destroying the remnants of a clandestine Assad-era chemical weapons program that it recovered in May, the first such destruction in a decade, a Syrian envoy and a U.N. representative said on Thursday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.