In a radio interview with Citi FM on Tuesday [May 13, 2025], Mr Carbonou said it was time to move away from outright bans and instead adopt practical ways of managing phone usage among students.

He explained that mobile phones were already widely present in schools, and pretending otherwise was no longer helpful.

“Over 98 per cent of students at [name withheld] have phones, and at [name withheld], students hide phones inside cut-out Bibles,” Mr Carbonou claimed, recounting experiences from schools he had visited. “Since phones are already in schools, we need a policy to manage their use effectively.”

Mr Carbonu revealed that NAGRAT’s national council was scheduled to meet to deliberate on the issue.

He said the association recognised the need to balance classroom discipline with the realities of digital learning.

According to Mr Carbonou, the use of mobile phones and other devices has made it easier for students to access both academic materials and inappropriate content, adding that the current absence of clear guidelines puts teachers and school heads in a difficult position.

He referred to practices in other countries, noting: “Universities in the U.S. use platforms like Blackboard to share notes across institutions. A student studying government in one school in Ghana could benefit from materials shared by a teacher in another, if we set up our systems properly.”

The Ghana Education Service (GES) maintains a ban on mobile phones in schools, in line with its official code of conduct. But reports suggest that the rule is widely flouted, with many students using phones secretly.

Mr Carbonou believes that a clear national direction will help schools address the situation in a way that is practical and fair, without compromising academic work or student safety.