Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education: "Put Down Phones and Focus on RAS Education"

[Anchor]

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is pushing for a so-called "phone-free" policy that restricts the use of mobile phones within schools. It has also launched RAS education, designed to help students focus on reading, music, and sports instead of smartphones.

Reporter Choi Ho-won has the details.

[Reporter]

Cheongdam High School in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Student council members ask their peers arriving at school to turn off their smartphones, if possible, before passing through the school gate.

[Please turn off your phones. Please turn off your phones.]

They are participating in the "phone-free" policy currently being promoted by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, which restricts smartphone use on school grounds.

The provincial education office is encouraging individual schools to voluntarily join the phone-free policy, and plans to select outstanding students early next year to provide them with an opportunity for training in China.

[Ahn Min-suk / Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education (August 31): "Not using smartphones at school, at home, at academies, or on the streets—turning them completely OFF for 100 days—we will select 100 top participants in the phone-free initiative and send them to China's Silicon Valley to broaden their horizons."] (Photo: Yonhap News)

Accompanying the "phone-free" initiative is so-called RAS education.

It aims to provide students with time for Reading (R), Arts and music activities (A), and Sports (S) instead of using smartphones. Schools are currently reinforcing their existing related programs.

Hawon Elementary School in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, designated as the first exemplary RAS-operating school, holds morning running on the field and morning reading sessions before morning classes begin.

During breaks and lunchtime, students are encouraged to play individual musical instruments, read classroom books, and engage in physical activities.

[Yoon Seo-yeon / Supervisor, RAS Education Division, Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education: "We expect that if students put down their mobile phones, cultivate the power of thought, emotional strength, and physical and mental resilience, and grow holistically through various relationships, a very happy school culture will be created."] (Photo: Yonhap News)

One hundred outstanding students who participate in the RAS education will also be sent for a week-long training program at two universities in Silicon Valley, United States, early next year.

However, because the phone-free initiative is left to the voluntary choice of schools, and RAS lacks unified programs or curricula, some point out that it may take a considerable amount of time for both policies to firmly establish themselves as school culture.

Video by Jang Woon-seok | Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.