Students may be allowed to bring electronic devices to school

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry plans to allow students to use information and communication technology (ICT) devices such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones in schools.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, said the use of ICT devices for teaching and facilitation (PdPC) in class would be according to the time and subject to be determined by the ministry.
He said the proposal has not been finalised since the ministry needs to study the proposal in detail before the implementation.
"I have not given thought to the devices to be allowed in schools. Perhaps after further discussions, the ministry will announce the decision within the next two months," he said at the launch of 70 sports books published by the Institute of Translation and Books Malaysia (ITBM) and an agreement between ITBM and Han Cultural Centre Malaysia (HCCM), here today.
Also present were ITBM chairman Budiman Mohd Zohdi and ITBM managing director Mohd Khair Ngadiron.
Mahdzir noted that some developed countries such as Japan and Korea have allowed limited use of several ICT devices in schools.
He said to this end, service provider 1BestariNet has been directed to increase the speed of broadband internet up to 6 gigabytes (GB) per second for rural schools and up to 12GB per second for urban schools. — Bernama