THE Education Department is concerned with the input of information and communication technology (ICTs) in schools to enhance the system of education, an official says. Guidance and counselling division director Lepapa Kopi expressed the department’s concerns in its input towards combating the exploitation of children online. “Whatever the ICT was providing should be used to enhance educating our children,” Kopi said. “Education Department has been proactive in terms of reforms and global changes taught in all schools across the country.” She said the ICT’s also eases negative impacts enabling them (school) to work together for amicable solutions and puts policies together to address behaviour managements that govern all schools. Kopi expressed concerns over a school situation where 17 students from a school in Port Moresby were suspended because of the interference of them using mobile phones during class. “Terminating students for using their phones in class was not the answer to solving the problem and it should not be the case,” she said. Kopi said mobile distributors who wanted to provide school applications for students via the internet should notify the school so they too were aware of what was being done. Chief Censor of Papua New Guinea Steven Mala also expressed his concerns over the vast use of ICT’s and digital devices that could be used to access internet. “Internet education needs to be encouraged and taught in the education curriculum so that students could understand the risks they may be exposed to when online,” Mala said. “It must be compulsory in secondary schools.” He said there was no law restricting students from bringing mobile phones to schools but school policies and rules may prohibit that. “We could not stop children from bring mobile phones to schools or using phones in schools, there is no law restricting that,” Mala said. “It is the primary responsibility of the parents to ensure their children were safe when using their mobile phones to go online. Mala said parents could either not allow their children to own phone or to their children to have those simple button “one bang” phones instead of “touch screens” in that way they were protected from accessing internet and exposure from online harm. The National
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