The Danish government has proposed a total ban on mobile phones and other private screens in all primary and lower secondary schools, following new PISA results showing record low performance among 15-year-olds.
The proposal was presented at a press conference in the Hall of Mirrors at Christiansborg on Thursday afternoon, DR reports. The four government party leaders attended, along with Minister for Children and Education Magnus Heunicke.
Present were Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S), Pia Olsen Dyhr (SF), Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) and Martin Lidegaard (R). According to DR, the meeting was called after this year’s PISA survey showed Danish 15-year-olds have never scored worse in reading, mathematics and science.
Frederiksen described the figures as deeply alarming and strongly disturbing. Olsen Dyhr said that society is failing Danish children, while Løkke Rasmussen called the numbers very disheartening. All four leaders agreed that mobile phones carry much of the blame.
How the ban would work
The proposed rules would cover both public folkeskoler and private free primary schools. Pupils would hand in their phones on arrival and get them back only when the school day ends. The ban would apply in classrooms and in the schoolyard, during lessons and breaks alike.
Heunicke said the PISA measurements show fewer disruptions in countries that have already introduced such rules, and better results. He added that the government cannot wait any longer to act. Frederiksen said Denmark has one of the most digitalized childhoods in the world.
A school ‘trepart’
The government also wants a broader restructuring of the folkeskole, built on what it calls a school trepart. Olsen Dyhr said it would gather teachers, parent organizations, pupils, school leaders and municipalities. The aim is to include everyone with direct knowledge of the school system.
The last fundamental change to the folkeskole was the 2014 reform. Ahead of it, around 55,000 teachers were locked out in the spring of 2013 during a dispute over working hours. Olsen Dyhr said serious mistakes were made then, damaging trust in the school system.
The Ministry of Children and Education established the national dialogue program Sammen om Skolen in 2021, which already includes the same parties. Heunicke said the new trepart will be far more binding, while the existing program should continue.
Heunicke had also invited all parents of school children in Denmark to what he called Denmark’s largest parents’ meeting on Thursday evening. It took place at 7:30 p.m. at Engskolen in Herlev Municipality, with the declining academic level on the agenda. The debate follows earlier moves to restrict mobile phones in schools.
No timetable for legislation on the screen ban was presented at the press conference. The government said drastic measures are needed to reverse the results.
