Schools may use ‘Phone pouch’ cash for other smartphone policies – Harris

Schools may use ‘phone pouch’ cash for other smartphone policies – Harris

Schools may be permitted to spend the controversial ‘phone pouch’ cash on other smartphone use strategies, the Taoiseach has told Pat Kenny. The €9 million spend on school phone pouches announced earlier this week has become a Budget 2025 flash point with opposition parties calling for the plan to be immediately withdrawn. Sinn Féin has labelled it a “scandalous waste of money,” while Ireland’s association for school principals labelled it “unbelievable”, noting that there are dozens of better ways the money could be used. On The Pat Kenny Show, Simon Harris said it is not true to say that nobody wanted the pouches – noting that no school will be “forced or compelled” to introduce them. He said any school that has a better way to use the money to cut out mobile phone use in class will be listened to. “It’s not true to say nobody wanted them and in fact, there’s many, many, many school principals and others who’ve been on the airwaves saying, we’ve been doing this in our school and it works really well,” he said. Credit to : Newstalk