Resolution that prohibits the use of personal cell phones by students also brings guidelines for digital and media education
The Chamber of Basic Education of the (Ministry of Education) published, this Monday (24.mar.2025), a set of rules on the use of digital devices, such as cell phones and notebooks, by students in public and private schools in the country.
Regulation also brings the integration of digital and media education in the curricula of elementary and high school. The rules were published in the DOU (Official Gazette). Read A (PDF – 1 MB).
According to the publication, the use of personal apparatus by students is prohibited both in the classroom and during the recess and the intervals, at all stages of basic education.
Are considered digital devices:
- computers;
- cell phones;
- notebooks;
- tablets;
- Robotics kits;
- Audiovisual kits (including digital cameras and other video and audio support features);
- Smart watches, among others.
The only exceptions are for students with disabilities or for those who need monitoring or health care. Also in emergency situations, such as natural disasters or safety risks, the use of devices can be authorized.
Digital devices can also be used for pedagogical purposes and under the guidance or mediation of education professionals, prioritizing the devices provided by the school itself. Teachers are released to use devices to develop activities and to plan their classes.
Guarding and portability of devices
According to the regulation of MEC, each school is free to decide the best way to restrict the use of personal digital devices by students to depend on their structure.
The student can, for example, store their mobile device or similar in an individual cabinet or backpack, “as long as it remains inaccessible to the student for the entire period in school“.
Other guard models contained in regulation include custody in the classrooms, with the storage of gadgets in collecting boxes or cabinets under the supervision of the teacher, or the collection of digital devices already at the arrival of students to school.
Use Recommendations
For each stage of basic education, regulation establishes specific recommendations for the use of digital devices.
In early childhood education (from 0 to 6 years old), the use of screens, even for pedagogical purposes, is not recommended as a rule, and their use should be done only on an exceptional basis.
In the elementary and high school, “The pedagogical use of digital devices is recommended, respecting the skills and skills to be developed at each stage, from a graduate progression to the development of the student’s autonomy“.
For example, in the early years of elementary school (1st to 5th grade, or 6 to 10 years of age), the recommendation is that the use is balanced and more restricted.
Regulation also puts as the duty of schools to guide parents and guardians on the effects of digital devices for children, including advertising and data use.
For high school, since students have more autonomy and use their mobile phone more intensely, schools “should perform awareness actions on the impact of technologies on citizen training, with the participation of families“.
Digital and Media Education
The text also brings guidelines for the integration, in the school curriculum, of activities around digital and media education. The idea is to be cross -sectional in existing disciplines or as a specific curriculum component.
Among the skills included in digital and media education are computational literacy and understanding of algorithms, data use for machine training, digital platforms and AI (artificial intelligence), and their ethical implications.
The elaboration of these new curricula must be supported by (Common National Curriculum Base) and the teacher training plan should be carried out over 2025. Its implementation will be mandatory from 2026.
