Phones and MP3 players are soon to be too dangerous for Schools

Currently, teachers have the power to search pupils for knives or other weapons. However, in a new government policy that was announced on 6 July in a written statement to Parliament from Schools Minister Nick Gibb, it was made clear that these powers were to be extended.



The controversy lies in the fact that Mr. Gibb also plans to add to the above list of items those which are considered so undesirable or dangerous that students must be forced to surrender their civil liberties and allow teachers to search them.


From the autumn this will include fireworks, legal highs – i.e. completely legal chemicals - pornography, cigarettes and "personal electronic devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players and cameras".


Whilst there does seem some obvious benefits in keep such contraband items off schools premises, there also seems to be some fairly obvious problems with such drastic measures.


Not least a pupils right to privacy, or a teacher being asked to do more than they are trained to do, but how about the teacher/pupil relationship? Surely this is one based on trust and soon to be destroyed by the need to be searched. Should the human rights argument be defeated, there is also one based in the preservation of modern technology.


As technology continues to perpetuate, should we not encourage the next generation to embrace new technology and learn to use it properly?

Budget cuts in education means new ideas are needed

"The last 11 years have been very successful in enabling schools to build a modern infrastructure and to develop learning and teaching, of and with, ICT very effectively."

"The issue now is one of being able to maintain that standard, if budgets are constrained or reduced."

Mary Copeland, Head of Belle Vue girls school in Bradford

ICT has become so embedded in most subjects that it is taken for granted, especially by pupils. However, with a new government promising funding cuts and policy changes, where are schools with technology and, more importantly, where do they want to go?

Michael Gove is a politician that has been notoriously tight-lipped about his attitude to technology. As he settles in as the new schools secretary, he will be evaluating how much funding schools will be allocated for ICT.

He is already reviewing the £55bn Building Schools for the Future program, with insiders saying some savings from the annual £8.5bn new school budget could go towards the Conservatives' plan to start Swedish-style new schools.

Little wonder, then, that teachers, long used to generous budgets for new technology, are starting to fret about the future. "Clearly, infrastructure gets outdated very quickly, that's a real issue," says Paul Butler, an ICT teacher at Didcot girls' school in Oxfordshire. "Because of the national debt, there isn't going to be as much money around. That's going to be a worry."

With worries about future budgets becoming a real threat, schools should be looking for new and innovative ways to maintain the standard of their projects. With regards technology and ICT, we can only move forward, and we should adopt the same stance when it comes to creating innovative ways to funding new technology.