Education Minister Paul Givan has announced a pilot scheme that will see over 8,000 pupils from nine post-primary schools across Northern Ireland participate in a phone-free school day, starting in September 2025. The initiative aims to assess the impact of restricting mobile phone use on students' mental health, academic engagement, and social interactions.

The pilot comes in response to growing concerns from parents and teachers about the amount of time young people spend on smartphones and the potential negative effects on their well-being.

"Since becoming Education Minister, I have examined the evidence and listened to the concerns of parents and teachers about the use of mobile phones in schools," said Minister Givan. "Many are concerned about the amount of time our young people spend on smartphones and there is overwhelming evidence of a negative relationship between smartphone use and adolescent mental health."

The scheme will involve pupils using pocket-sized fabric pouches with magnetic latches to secure their phones at the start of the school day. These pouches will only be opened at the end of the day using a special unlocking base.

The Minister addressed concerns about existing school policies and the need for a consistent approach. "Currently there are different policies across schools, however, in many cases there are challenges in implementing these policies. For the pilot scheme we wanted all of the participating schools to be implementing a consistent approach," he explained. "The decision to fund the pilot will help to support schools and to reduce the additional workload involved with trying to develop new or enforcing existing policies. The pilot will also allow us to better evaluate the impacts of reduced phone usage."

Nine schools, representing a range of school types and geographical locations, were selected from over 50 expressions of interest. The announcement was made during a visit to St Ronan's College, Lurgan, where Minister Givan discussed the pilot with pupils.

"Today, I am pleased to be announcing the nine schools that will be participating in our phone-free pilot scheme from September 2025. Each of the schools have been very enthusiastic about taking part but I know that it means change for the pupils and change isn't always easy," he said.

He also reassured parents that flexibility would be provided for students with specific needs, such as health or disability.

Mrs Fiona Kane, Principal of St Ronan's College, welcomed the initiative, saying: "This initiative marks a significant change for our students, but we are confident that, with the support of parents and staff it will have a profoundly positive impact on academic engagement, achievement, social interactions, and overall student health and well-being."

Rosalind McClean, Smartphone Free Childhood Regional Co-Leader for Northern Ireland, also expressed support, noting the high level of interest from schools.

The pilot will be used to inform future policy decisions on mobile phone use in schools. "Many countries across the world are taking steps to stop phone use at school and I wanted to develop a pilot scheme to inform our future policy decisions," Minister Givan said. "I believe that by restricting the use of mobile phones during the school day, children will be able to better concentrate, engage and learn, as well as enjoying 'phone-free' break and lunchtimes so they can play, have fun, participate in sports and socialise with their friends."

The nine schools participating in the pilot are: Glenlola Collegiate, Bangor; Friends' School, Lisburn; Hazelwood Integrated College, Belfast; St Genevieve's High School, Belfast; St Joseph's Boys', Londonderry; St Fanchea's College, Enniskillen; Larne High School; Markethill High School; St Ronan's College, Lurgan.