Ho Chi Minh City pilots phone-free recess from October

On the morning of September 18, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City organized a workshop on "Strengthening the building of a healthy school environment, not using mobile phones during recess".

Students play chess during recess at Nguyen Thai Binh Secondary School (Binh Phu Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: provided by the school

At this workshop, the Department of Education and Training proposed a draft plan to limit the use of phones and electronic devices during recess at educational institutions in Ho Chi Minh City.

Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City plans to pilot phone-free recess in 16 schools from October 2025 to the end of the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year. Then, from the second semester of this school year (January 2026), phone-free recess will be applied in 100% of general schools.

Phone-free recess will be recess where students' phones are strictly managed and instead of focusing on their phones, students will focus on playing group games organized by the school.

To implement "no-phone playtime", each school will prepare at least three diverse alternative activities during recess such as sports , arts, folk games, reading, life skills clubs... Students will participate in at least one group activity during recess.

In addition, the school will also have measures to manage students' phones with phone boxes.

Homeroom teachers, team leaders... will be trained in depth to make playtime more lively, effective and practical. At the same time, students will be able to participate in discussions about the benefits of direct interaction, participate in forums to share experiences, propose new activities...

At the workshop, many middle and high schools said that recently many schools have implemented phone-free playtimes with high efficiency and consensus among parents and students.

"The feeling of students after not using their phones for a while is that they increase their connection, feel happier, and bond more with their friends. They also said that such playtime will make their school years much more beautiful," said Mr. Dang Van Thanh - Vice Principal of Thanh Loc High School, An Phu Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - Director of the Department of Education and Training - said that the department does not absolutely prohibit students from bringing cell phones to school because in the age of information technology, cell phones also have their own useful aspects.

However, phones should only serve essential needs, supporting learning and communication when needed. Therefore, schools will not strictly prohibit but must guide students to actively use phones appropriately and safely.

That is also the reason why Ho Chi Minh City will organize effective and practical recess hours so that phones are no longer the "only entertainment" of students in the city like today.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-thi-diem-gio-ra-choi-khong-dien-thoai-tu-thang-10-2025091900262013.htm