quebec ban cell phones classrooms school
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Quebec to ban cell phones in classrooms across public school system

by Lorraine Carpenter

Education Minister Bernard Drainville is sending a directive to the Council of Ministers that will ban phones in class.

Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville is sending a directive to the Council of Ministers that will ban the use of cell phones for students in classrooms across the public school system. “We want to help with the concentration of students,” Drainville said in a press conference this morning.

An exception will be made if a teacher asks students to use their mobile phones for educational purposes.

The ban has to be approved by the council before going into effect, something that would not happen in time for the start of the school year for elementary and high school kids next week. It could reportedly go ahead, however, as soon as September.

The ban on cell phones in classrooms would not apply to the Quebec private school system.

This article was originally published at 10:26 a.m. and updated at 12:45 p.m.

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by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.