Key points:

By now, it’s no secret that phones are a problem in classrooms. A growing body of research and an even louder chorus of educators point to the same conclusion: students are distracted, they’re disengaged, and their learning is suffering. What’s less clear is how to solve this issue. 

Of late, school districts across the country are drawing firmer lines. From Portland, Maine to Conroe, Texas and Springdale, Arkansas, administrators are implementing “bell-to-bell” phone bans, prohibiting access from the first bell to the last. Many are turning to physical tools like pouches and smart lockers, which lock away devices for the duration of the day, to enforce these rules. The logic is straightforward: take the phones away, and you eliminate the distraction.

In many ways, it works. Schools report fewer behavioral issues, more focused classrooms, and an overall sense of calm returning to hallways once buzzing with digital noise. But as these policies scale, the limitations are becoming more apparent.

But students, as always, find ways around the rules. They’ll bring second phones to school or slip their device in undetected–and more. Teachers, already stretched thin, are now tasked with enforcement, turning minor infractions into disciplinary incidents. 

Some parents and students are also pushing back, arguing that all-day bans are too rigid, especially when phones serve as lifelines for communication, medical needs, or even digital learning. In Middletown, Connecticut, students reportedly became emotional just days after a new ban took effect, citing the abrupt change in routine and lack of trust.

The bigger question is this: Are we trying to eliminate phones, or are we trying to teach responsible use?

That distinction matters. While it’s clear that phone misuse is widespread and the intent behind bans is to restore focus and reduce anxiety, blanket prohibitions risk sending the wrong message. Instead of fostering digital maturity, they can suggest that young people are incapable of self-regulation. And in doing so, they may sidestep an important opportunity: using school as a place to practice responsible tech habits, not just prohibit them.

This is especially critical given the scope of the problem. A recent study by Fluid Focus found that students spend five to six hours a day on their phones during school hours. Two-thirds said it had a negative impact on their academic performance. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 77 percent of school leaders believe phones hurt learning. The data is hard to ignore.

But managing distraction isn’t just about removal. It’s also about design. Schools that treat device policy as an infrastructure issue, rather than a disciplinary one, are beginning to implement more structured approaches. 

Some are turning to smart locker systems that provide centralized, secure phone storage while offering greater flexibility: configurable access windows, charging capabilities, and even low admin options to help keep teachers teaching. These systems don’t “solve” the phone problem, but they do help schools move beyond the extremes of all-or-nothing.

And let’s not forget equity. Not all students come to school with the same tech, support systems, or charging access. A punitive model that assumes all students have smartphones (or can afford to lose access to them) risks deepening existing divides. Structured storage systems can help level the playing field, offering secure and consistent access to tech tools without relying on personal privilege or penalizing students for systemic gaps.

That said, infrastructure alone isn’t the answer. Any solution needs to be accompanied by clear communication, transparent expectations, and intentional alignment with school culture. Schools must engage students, parents, and teachers in conversations about what responsible phone use actually looks like and must be willing to revise policies based on feedback. Too often, well-meaning bans are rolled out with minimal explanation, creating confusion and resistance that undermine their effectiveness.

Nor should we idealize “focus” as the only metric of success. Mental health, autonomy, connection, and trust all play a role in creating school environments where students thrive. If students feel overly surveilled or infantilized, they’re unlikely to engage meaningfully with the values behind the policy. The goal should not be control for its own sake, it should be cultivating habits that carry into life beyond the classroom.

The ubiquity of smartphones is undeniable. While phones are here to stay, the classroom represents one of the few environments where young people can learn how to use them wisely, or not at all. That makes schools not just sites of instruction, but laboratories for digital maturity.

The danger isn’t that we’ll do too little. It’s that we’ll settle for solutions that are too simplistic or too focused on optics, instead of focusing  not on outcomes.

We need more than bans. We need balance. That means moving past reactionary policies and toward systems that respect both the realities of modern life and the capacity of young people to grow. It means crafting strategies that support teachers without overburdening them, that protect focus without sacrificing fairness, and that reflect not just what we’re trying to prevent, but what we hope to build.

The real goal shouldn’t be to simply get phones out of kids’ hands. It should be to help them learn when to put them down on their own.

The PIE News can exclusively reveal that higher education specialist StudyIn – previously known as SI-UK – has announced the completion of its transaction with SUN Education, a major student recruitment agency in South-East Asia.

With 27 locations and 230 employees, SUN Education places 2,000 students a year, primarily to universities in Australia. Founded in 2010, it has established itself as a leading player in South-East Asia’s student recruitment sector, led by its founders Fredy Subrata, Kevin Tan and Harianto Ani, who will continue to lead the organisation in this next chapter.

In a statement, the companies described the deal as a “milestone for the sector, creating a heavyweight multi-destination player with exciting growth prospects”.

“This transaction underscores StudyIn’s commitment to connecting students with the best universities worldwide,” commented Rob Grimshaw, CEO of StudyIn.

Subrata described it as an “incredible opportunity” and said that through their combined global platform and multi-destination network, the organisations “will create greater opportunities for students and deliver stronger outcomes for universities worldwide”.

The deal is set to benefit StudyIn by bringing a valuable footprint with Australian institutions, where SUN education has extensive partnerships. The company is also looking to deepen its engagement with Indonesia, where SUN Education was founded – a country with 280 million people and one that is seen as a strategically important source market with huge potential.

Speaking to The PIE, Grimshaw said that the two organisations are “in step with each other in terms of our perspective of the world”, with a shared belief that “doing the right thing” by your partners and students “is the road to success”.

Already present in 45 markets, Grimshaw said StudyIn is positioning itself for further expansion.

“We’ve got a winning formula here,” said Grimshaw, speaking about StudyIn’s work. “We see opportunity in markets where we have a less-developed footprint, such as in South America and Africa at the moment, there’s lots of space for us to expand.” 

We see opportunity in markets where we have a less-developed footprint, such as in South America and Africa at the moment, there’s lots of space for us to expand
_{Rob Grimshaw, StudyIn}

“We do the right thing both by the universities and by the students and we feel that maintaining high standards, having robust processes, being reliable as a partner at both ends has drawn volume to us and we think that the sector could benefit from more of that,” explained Grimshaw.

“There’s a virtuous situation here. Our success is the sector’s success and the obvious thing for us to do to build out the organisation is firstly to add more destinations so that we’re a preferred partner for universities across multiple markets worldwide, and also in parallel keep expanding our extraordinary footprint in source markets.”

Despite a tumultuous few years in international education for Australian providers, with a de facto cap on international enrolments and reports of dwindling interest in certain parts of the sector, Grimshaw is optimistic about the future of recruitment to the country.

“The message from the government behind the scenes seems to be there is going to be gentle growth here,” he explained.

“We just all have to do it in a sensible way. That’s a reasonable message. We’re certainly seeing that in the numbers from SUN. Their business has grown this year, and they’re expecting a good result as they come out of the end of their current financial year. We feel that actually of the major markets, Australia is in many ways the most straightforward right now.”

Collectively, StudyIn and SUN Education process over 300,000 student applications a year. By joining forces, the organisations have ambitions to increase their investment in people and technology “to make the student journey even better”.

Tens of thousands of foreign students are to be contacted directly by the government and warned that they will be removed from the UK if they overstay their visas.

The Home Office has launched the new campaign in response to what it has called an “alarming” spike in the number of international students arriving legally on student visas then claiming asylum when they expire.

As part of the campaign, the Home Office will for the first time proactively contact about 130,000 students and their families, warning them they will be forced to leave the UK if they have no legal right to remain.

The full message will read: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused. Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support. If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”

Although the political and media focus this summer has been on people arriving on small boats, a similar number arrive legally with visas, then apply for asylum often when those visas run out.

Many claims are legitimate, but ministers fear that too many international students are seeking asylum to stay in the country because their leave to remain has run out. Earlier this year, the Home Office cut the amount of time overseas graduates can stay in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

In the year to June 2025, 43,600 people seeking asylum arrived on a small boat – 39% of all asylum claims, according to Home Office data. Another 41,100 asylum claims came from people who entered legally with a visa, with the largest group among visa holders being students – 16,000 last year, nearly six times as many as in 2020.

Since then, Home Office data shows there has been a drop of 10%, but ministers in the department want the figures to fall further.

This week, the government has been under pressure from opposition parties including the Conservatives and Reform to declare “a national emergency” on migration and illegal immigration.

On Tuesday morning, the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, declined to guarantee that migrants would definitely be sent back across the Channel this month as part of a returns agreement with France, after telling the Commons on Monday that the first returns under the deal were expected in late September.

When pressed, she replied: “We expect the first returns to take place this month. But I’ve always said from the very beginning on this, it’s a pilot scheme and it needs to build up over time.”

She contrasted her “practical and sensible” approach with that of the previous Conservative government on Rwanda, which “spent £700m and sent four volunteers after running it for two years”.

She also told Times Radio that ministers believe asylum hotels can be emptied earlier than the end of the current parliament, after Keir Starmer said on Monday that he wanted to move all asylum seekers out of hotel accommodation before his government’s deadline of the end of the parliament, which could last until 2029.