These regulations, which come into force on 18 January 2024, amend the Education (School Boards) Regulations 2020 (the principal regulations).

The regulations insert into the principal regulations new regulation 22, which imposes a duty on boards of State schools (other than Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu) to prohibit students from using or accessing mobile phones at all times while they are attending school. The prohibition will also apply to students of the school who are undertaking courses of education, gaining work experience, or making visits outside the school premises (by virtue of section 53(2) of the Education and Training Act 2020 (the Act)).

New regulation 22 provides that the prohibition must take effect no later than 29 April 2024 and that the board may do anything within its powers that it thinks is necessary or desirable to implement the prohibition (for example, the board may make bylaws under section 126 of the Act).

However, new regulation 22 also requires the board to ensure that the prohibition does not apply to a student to the extent that the board is satisfied that the student needs to use or access a mobile phone—

• for a purpose connected with the student’s health (for example, to monitor insulin levels); or

• for the purpose of assisting the student in connection with a disability or learning support need (for example, to assist with impaired communication).

New regulation 22 also requires the board to ensure that the prohibition does not apply to a student to the extent that—

• a registered teacher determines that the student needs to use or access a mobile phone for a specific educational task or purpose (for example, for a class assignment); or

• the principal of the school determines that there are special circumstances that make it necessary for the student to use or access a mobile phone (for example, the student is a teenage parent).

The regulations also divide the principal regulations into Parts and remove cross-headings that are no longer needed.