Opinion by Nyanzi Martin Luther
Nyanzi Martin Luther is a Ugandan media entrepreneur and youth advocate.
Uganda needs to rethink the way it looks at phones in schools.
For years, a student found with a phone has often been treated as though they have been caught with something inherently harmful. The immediate concerns are usually social media, pornography, cheating, distraction and wasted time.
But is the phone itself really the problem?
A smartphone can certainly distract a student. But the same device can also help a learner understand something they did not grasp in class.
It can provide access to research, dictionaries, calculators, educational videos, notes and, increasingly, artificial intelligence tools that can explain difficult subjects.
Also Read: Tensions stir in Uganda’s music industry as Nyanzi Martin Luther Critiques artist Alliance and fede
The issue, therefore, should be how the phone is used.
Schools are actually among the places where responsible use can be taught and supervised. A school can determine when students may use phones, what they can use them for and when the devices must be switched off and put away.
Once a student leaves school, however, that supervision largely disappears.
A student can go home, close the bedroom door and spend hours online. The school may never know what that student is watching, who they are communicating with or what they are learning.
Banning phones at school does not make young people stop using them. It may instead mean that schools lose an opportunity to teach students how to use technology responsibly.
Phones in Schools in Uganda: The World Has Changed
Children growing up today are experiencing a very different world from the one their parents knew.
There was a time when mobile phones were not part of everyday life. That is no longer the case. Smartphones are now used for communication, entertainment, business, banking, research and education.
Technology is already part of young people’s lives. The question is whether Uganda will teach them to use it properly or simply tell them to stay away from it.
It is difficult to tell young people that technology is the future while treating technology as an enemy whenever they enter a school compound.
Uganda wants young people who can work with artificial intelligence. It wants software developers, innovators and digital entrepreneurs.
But those skills do not suddenly appear when a student enters university.
Young people need opportunities to experiment, make mistakes and learn much earlier.
A smartphone, when properly supervised, can be one of the tools through which a student begins that journey.
Uganda should create, not only consume
There is a bigger issue behind the phone debate.
Uganda has universities and institutions teaching computer science, information technology and engineering. The country also has talented developers and innovators.
Yet Uganda still consumes far more technology than it creates.
The challenge is to produce more applications, digital services and technology businesses capable of solving problems not only in Uganda but across Africa.
Why should a young Ugandan have to wait until university before experimenting with technology?
A student with access to a smartphone can begin learning coding, exploring artificial intelligence, researching ideas and discovering opportunities beyond the classroom.
That student may eventually create something that solves a problem affecting thousands or even millions of people.
Of course, access to a phone alone does not guarantee innovation. Students need teachers, affordable internet, digital-skills programmes and proper guidance.
But completely shutting technology out of their learning environment does not prepare them for a digital economy either.
Schools also need smarter technology
The debate about phones should also force us to ask what kind of technology our schools are providing.
Many classrooms still rely mainly on chalkboards and traditional teaching methods. There is nothing wrong with a blackboard, but technology can give teachers additional ways of explaining concepts.
A smart board, computer, digital textbook or educational video can make some lessons easier to understand.
A teacher explaining a scientific process, for example, can use a video or animation instead of relying entirely on words and drawings on a board.
That does not mean technology should replace teachers. It means teachers should have more tools at their disposal.
The irony is that many teachers already use smartphones themselves. They use them to search for information, communicate with colleagues and sometimes send assignments or other material to students.
Some schools also use WhatsApp groups to communicate with parents and learners.
So the phone is already part of education in one way or another.
The question is why its educational value should disappear simply because the device is in a student’s hands.
Television is part of the conversation too
When children are exposed to inappropriate material, the phone is often blamed.
But smartphones are not the only source of such content.
Television has been in Ugandan homes for decades. A child can sit in the sitting room and watch a programme or film intended for an older audience, sometimes with adults present.
Many programmes carry age classifications or parental-guidance warnings, yet families may still watch them together.
When a child encounters similar material online, however, the blame often falls entirely on the internet or the phone.
Parents also have a role to play.
Children can encounter inappropriate material through television, smartphones, social media, other people’s devices and even conversations taking place around them.
That is why banning one device cannot solve the entire problem.
Children need guidance. Parents need to understand parental controls and online safety. Schools need clear policies. Technology companies need stronger protections for children. Young people themselves need to be taught how to behave responsibly online.
Why is a calculator different?
Consider the way schools treat calculators.
In subjects where calculators are permitted, a student can enter a mathematical problem and receive an answer. The answer comes from a device, yet the calculator is regarded as a legitimate learning tool.
A smartphone can perform the same calculation.
But it can also provide a dictionary, research material, educational videos and other resources.
A smartphone is obviously more powerful than a calculator, and that is precisely why it requires stronger rules.
But stronger rules do not necessarily have to mean an outright ban.
Schools could allow phones during particular lessons where a teacher considers them useful and prohibit them during others. Phones could remain prohibited during examinations unless specifically authorised.
Students who use them for cheating, accessing inappropriate material or breaking school rules could face disciplinary action.
There are ways of managing technology without pretending it does not exist.
Technology has also shaped my own journey
For me, this debate is not entirely theoretical.
Technology has played an important role in my own journey. I have used the internet and my phone to learn, communicate, develop ideas and create opportunities.
There was a time when my family could not easily support all my interests in technology, but my mother encouraged me.
Looking back, I see the phone differently from the idea that it is simply a device that spoils young people.
A phone can certainly be misused. But it can also open doors.
The difference is often in the person using it, the environment around them and the guidance they receive.
Parliament should look at the issue again
This is why Parliament and education authorities should have a broader conversation about phones in schools.
The question should not simply be whether phones are good or bad.
The more useful question is: How can phones be used safely and responsibly to support education?
Uganda cannot continue telling young people to embrace technology while creating an education environment that treats technology as inherently dangerous.
Artificial intelligence, digital skills and other technologies will continue to influence education and employment. Students need to be prepared for that reality.
They need to know how to use technology, but just as importantly, they need to learn how to control themselves while using it.
Uganda should therefore focus on banning the misuse, not the phone.
A smartphone can be a distraction. It can also be a calculator, a classroom, a library, a research tool and a doorway to opportunities.
What Uganda needs is not fear of technology, but responsible use of it.
written by @enock katamba
- Enock Katamba is a Ugandan Journalist and Founder of Uncovered UG, an independent digital news platform covering Uganda and international developments. He reports on politics, national affairs, entertainment, sports, business, education and other stories of public interest.
Latest entries
Sports29 September 2026Manchester City Found Guilty of 114 Financial Breaches as Premier League Case Takes New Turn- Education29 September 2026Phones in Schools in Uganda: Ban Misuse, Not Phones
- National News29 September 2026From Rwengoma to Karuziika: Nyabongo I’s Historic Journey to the Tooro Throne
- National News28 September 2026Court Challenge Puts Tooro Coronation Under Legal Cloud
