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Nationwide ‘Portable en Pause’ Plan Faces Slow, Uneven Rollout at Rentrée

Departments report no state funding for lockers, leaving most collèges unprepared.

Overview

  • Education minister Élisabeth Borne reaffirmed the goal of generalizing the policy this school year to curb screen overuse and cyberharassment after pilots the ministry says improved school climate.
  • The measure requires students to leave phones in locked storage during lessons and pauses updates to digital tools like Pronote in the evenings and on weekends, reinforcing the 2018 ban.
  • On the ground, the rectorat of Créteil says deployment is only just starting and few Paris-area collèges have acquired lockers, cases or pouches.
  • Départements de France says the ministry has not budgeted contributions and counts only one or two collèges per department ready to equip themselves out of roughly 5,000.
  • The SNPDEN-Unsa leaders warn many schools lack the space, staff and time to implement the prescribed setup, with some establishments choosing charters and parent outreach instead of immediate equipment purchases.