Overview
- The Ministry of Education published Decreto Supremo N.º 018-2026-MINEDU on Saturday, October 3, 2026, making the cellphone restriction regulation binding for all public and private basic education institutions nationwide.
- Schools may temporarily custodiar (retain) students’ phones during educational activities with custody normally limited to the school day and the option to require direct delivery to a parent or tutor for grave or repeated infractions.
- The rule sets four clear exceptions that allow device use: pedagogical activities, overcoming educational barriers, health or disability needs backed by professional documentation, and emergencies.
- Institutions are forbidden from accessing the contents of phones or applying humiliating, discriminatory or privacy-violating measures and teachers’ device use must be prioritized for teaching with personal use kept outside class when possible.
- Schools must update internal regulations, post visible notices (including indigenous languages where relevant), notify families, and submit to monitoring by UGELs and regional education directorates while Minedu and Minsa roll out safe-use and digital-competency campaigns.