Ho Chi Minh City pilots banning students from using cell phones during recess

According to the Department of Education and Training (DET) of Ho Chi Minh City, from October to the end of the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year, 16 schools in the city will be selected to pilot the model of phone-free recess.

During this time, students will not be allowed to use phones or electronic devices during recess. Each school can flexibly develop a management plan suitable to actual conditions, such as leaving phones in the classroom, handing them over to teachers or temporarily storing them in the school's safe.

If the results are positive, the program will be expanded citywide from January next year.

List of 16 schools piloting the phone-free recess model

To prevent phone-free time from becoming boring for students, the Department of Education and Training encourages schools to organize at least three types of activities during recess, combining physical exercise, artistic exchange and life skills training.

Specifically, schools can arrange mini sports areas such as basketball, badminton, jump rope; reading corners, small stages for students to perform arts; or folk and group games such as mandarin squares, dragon snake up to the clouds, blindfolded goat catching, tug of war, shuttlecock kicking, etc.

In addition, the Department also requires each student to participate in at least one group activity during recess to encourage them to exercise and communicate directly instead of being glued to the screen.

Students in Ho Chi Minh City during a class. Photo: AN

The policy of "no phone recess" is considered one of the efforts of the Ho Chi Minh City education sector in building a friendly learning environment, focusing on comprehensive development for students.

Before implementation, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City organized a workshop to collect opinions from education experts, scientists , parents, students and received high consensus.

In recent years, many schools in Ho Chi Minh City such as Gifted High School, Thanh Loc High School, Truong Chinh High School, Ba Diem High School, Luong The Vinh High School, Le Van Tam Middle School,... have restricted students from bringing and using cell phones on campus.