Madrid bans laptops and tablets in classrooms
Primary school children in Madrid will be banned from using laptops and tablets in classrooms to protect their mental and physical health.
Madrid's regional government has said it is removing devices out of concern for children's mental wellbeing and the impact of addiction to screens and exposure to inappropriate material online, promising instead a return to traditional teaching methods.
Emilio Viciana, Madrid's regional education minister, said on Thursday that the misuse of computers and tablets was affecting children's health and at the root of 'mental issues such as depression'.
He also said numerous studies have shown that 'the ability to read and write does not develop equally when working on a screen as opposed to paper'.
Madrid's government, led by the outspoken conservative regional premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said it is the first in Spain to take such a step, which will apply to schoolchildren up to the age of 12.
The ban, which will come into force for the next academic year, affects some 2,000 publicly-funded schools in the Madrid region, with those centres which have switched their curricula to a predominantly computer-based system given an extra year to adopt the measures.
Mr Viciana explained that the individual use of a screen by pupils in the classroom will not be permitted, but a limited amount of time can still be spent on supervised collective learning of how to use computer technology.
In the first five years of primary education, between the ages of three and eight, the maximum time allowed for tech classes will be one hour a week, extending to two hours for pupils aged 11 to 12. Teachers will no longer be allowed to set homework on digital platforms.
'We intend to return to the essence of books, notebooks, dictation, careful spelling and handwriting, and we will make all of this compatible with ensuring that Madrid students acquire the much-needed digital skills,' a spokesman for Ms Ayuso's government said.
The move has received criticism from some parents' groups and teachers' unions.
'The problem with screens is not in educational centres, but rather within families. It's the school's job to teach how to use them,' said Isabel Galvín, the education secretary of the CCOO, Spain's largest trade union.
In the UK, a recent report by the House of Commons education committee expressed concerns about the use of tech in the classroom.
Noting that Britain's educational technology sector is the largest in Europe with more schools in England using AI than ever before, the report urged the Labour government to carry out a risk assessment and to ensure Ofcom checks on the safety of software and the use of children's data.
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