Pupils’ poor work blamed on phone

THE use of mobile phones by primary school students has been blamed for their poor performance in Grade 8 examinations in Morobe last year.
Provincial education officer and Grade 8 examination supervisor Michael Gerson said the province performed very poorly in last year’s national examinations.
He blamed it on the uncontrolled use of mobile phones by students.
He said while teachers controlled the use of phones in school, students at home spent a lot of time on their phones.
“Students don’t do their studies. They are on the mobile phone even late into the night.”
Gerson said students from schools in urban areas were the main culprits.
The result showed that only 29 per cent of students were selected last year compared to 43 per cent the previous year.
Of the 12,298 who sat last year, only 3609 were selected for high schools.
Gerson said students in rural schools performed much better.
“Students in rural areas are very interested in learning but there are not enough teachers because of schools’ isolation.
Teachers’ welfare, closed airstrips, lack of access to reliable roads and government services forced teachers to leave.”
Gerson said classrooms in urban schools were overcrowded and it was hard to manage students.