Know-how, the applying of scientific data for sensible functions, together with the usage of gadgets to facilitate the every day actions of man, is a good blessing to our technology.
Cellphones, and for that matter smartphones, are such technological gadgets which have revolutionised communication on the daybreak of the twenty first century. Right now, the usage of a cell phone is a necessity in most components of the world and Ghana isn’t any exception.
Individuals in virtually all age brackets—from youngsters to adults make use of cell phones for communication, and in latest instances, with the appearance of smartphones, individuals use them as sensible guides for nearly every little thing. The smartphone has change into a straightforward device that may be successfully utilized in training, well being, agriculture amongst others.
Though there are myriad benefits to the usage of cell phones, college youngsters in Ghana, particularly these at second-cycle establishments, are barred from utilizing cell phones when college is in session.
In keeping with the Ghana Schooling Service’s (GES) code of conduct for college kids in pre-tertiary ranges, college students are usually not allowed to carry sure electrical and digital home equipment together with blenders, rice cookers, cell phones, private computer systems, headsets, and i-pods to highschool.
Sanctions for flouting the above guideline on unprescribed objects/devices embrace confiscation of things, signing of bond and assembly a disciplinary committee. Many stakeholders surprise if these guidelines or tips prohibiting the usage of cell phones or smartphones in second-cycle establishment are inimical to the event of the academic course of or if such guidelines should be related to nurture the scholars holistically.
As the controversy rages on, allow us to think about some believable causes which may have necessitated the rule within the first place and that will nonetheless be related in our up to date society.
Youngsters
Firstly, most college students in second-cycle establishments in Ghana are of their teen ages, an age bracket that’s famous for vital exploration and peer affect. College students within the boarding homes are virtually left on their very own on the dormitories after night preps. Though housemasters/housemistresses test on them often, they spend a bit of the night time on their very own.
These college students underneath peer affect are susceptible to misuse smartphones to entry content material on the Web, resulting in the erosion of ethical values being inculcated within the college students by lecturers.
College students require enough time to relaxation and sleep (about seven hours) to really feel refreshed for educational work. Nevertheless, if left unrestrained, some will keep awake deep into the night time on telephone calls with their boy/girlfriends or keep awake to play video games, stream films and take heed to music amongst others, since the price of information and name off-peak hours is often low-cost.
A consequence might be college students sleeping in school because of the lack of enough sleep. Different college students will lose focus within the classroom when the trainer is instructing as a result of they are going to be simply distracted by what they’re browsing on the Web or might be on social media platforms chatting whereas the trainer is instructing. The impact will manifest within the poor efficiency of scholars in examinations.
Vices
Using smartphones by college students may also result in an increase in different social vices and theft. Some unscrupulous college students will gamble on their smartphones. They might stake bets and steal cash from their colleagues to have the ability to stake a wager or a lottery.
Entry to cell phones additionally facilitates crime and violence like mob motion amongst college students. Throughout video games and different sporting actions between second-cycle colleges, most violence witnessed at such occasions lately is a results of the swift mobilisation of scholars and city people and previous college students by way of cell phones. If not for the restriction on the usage of cell phones, there would have been reprisal assaults at odd instances with dire penalties on scholar lives.
One other canker
One other canker that’s step by step eroding the successes of the academic sector in Ghana is the frequent situation of examination malpractices. Within the 2023 West African Senior Faculty Certificates Examination (WASSCE), 839 college students had their examination outcomes cancelled for possessing cell phones within the examination halls, whereas the topic outcomes of candidates from 235 colleges have been withheld for utilizing synthetic intelligence-generated solutions, clearly for dishonest with a smartphone within the examinations.
From the foregoing, there are justifiable causes for the restriction of smartphone utilization in second-cycle establishments in Ghana. However these, nevertheless, it’s price noting that within the second-cycle establishments, day college students use their cell phones after college. In most boarding homes, cell phones are utilized by college students often underneath the supervision of tutors when college students wish to attain out to their mother and father or guardians.
To make sure Ghanaian college students are usually not left behind on this technological age, the Ghana Schooling Service, Mother or father Trainer Associations and all main stakeholders should endeavour to supply well-equipped pc laboratories to facilitate info and pc and technological training amongst second-cycle college students.
The author is a Trainer of English at Tarkwa SHS.