TIRUCHY: Students will not be allowed to carry mobile phones to classes and the gadgets, if brought, would be confiscated and not returned, warned School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of distributing welfare assistance, including free patta to beneficiaries, the minister said students have come across the habit of using mobile phones during the COVID-19 pandemic season for the past two years. However, it is also true that the students have developed distraction by using the mobile phones for online classes.“We have released a circular that the students should not bring mobile phones. If they bring them, they will soon be seized and will not be returned back,” he said.

Similarly, a special refreshment programme for the class 11 and 12 students would be conducted for the first five days in which experts from various departments would provide awareness to the students on various subjects including awareness on Pocso Act. “We have planned to involve the students of Classes 9 and 10 along with the higher secondary students for the refreshment programme,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister said the admission to the government schools have enormously increased this year and the department is keen on ensuring proper infrastructure in all the schools. In addition, as many as 9,494 teachers would be appointed this year through TRB to ensure teachers’ strength, he said.

The minister also said the Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme would be extended to six more months and gradually withdrawn.

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