Hey students and parents—something big is happening in UAE schools for the new 2025–2026 school year: mobile phones are officially banned on school grounds. Here’s what you need to know in everyday language.
The UAE Ministry of Education has rolled out a rule, based on Ministerial Resolution No. 851 of 2018—that bans students (and even parents) from bringing mobile phones into school. The goal? Keep everyone focused, safe, and respectful in school.
This includes preventing:
Distractions during class
Cheating on exams
Privacy issues (like students taking photos of teachers or classmates).
Schools will run surprise checks. You’ll be asked to show your bag or pockets, no one will touch you or anything of yours.
If you’re caught with your phone:
1st time: It’ll be taken away for a month.
Again: It stays with the school until the academic year ends.
Schools must notify parents right away and ask them to sign official forms when the phone is taken or returned.
If a school fails to follow the rule, it faces serious administrative penalties.
Even before it became official, several schools were already adopting creative ways to keep students distraction-free:
JESS Secondary uses Yondr pouches, lockable pouches that hold your phone until after school.
Brighton College Dubai has students hand in phones at morning registration, keeping them locked up until home time.
Dubai College has device-free zones during breaks, unless you’re working with a laptop.
GEMS Winchester gives out lockable pouches (for a small fee) that stay clipped on throughout the day.
On the ground, Scholars Indian School in Ras Al Khaimah asks students to hand their phones in at the reception (with a parent-signed note) for safekeeping during school hours.
Not at all, think of it as giving yourself a break from distraction. Schools say when phones are off the table, students interact more, learn better, and behave more responsibly. One parent shared they get “improved student engagement” and kids say it’s “liberating” not worrying about social media during school.
Write down important passwords. Don’t rely on your phone to log into school systems, just jot them in your notebook.
Communicate the rules. Make sure you and your family understand the confiscation timeline so no one’s caught off guard.
Use tech wisely. If your school uses BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), you might still take laptops or tablets for lessons, but phones? Nope.
Support the change at home. Schools say they can’t do this alone, parents helping reinforce the rules makes a huge difference.
