Cell phones, tablets and smartwatches will be largely banned from classrooms in the Netherlands from January 1, 2024, the Dutch government has announced, in a bid to limit distractions during lessons.

The Dutch Ministry of Education said devices will only be allowed if they are specifically needed, for instance during lessons on digital skills, for medical reasons or for people with disabilities.

“Even though mobile phones are intertwined with our lives, they do not belong in the classroom,” education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said in a statement.

“Students need to be able to concentrate and need to be given the opportunity to study well. Mobile phones are a disturbance, scientific research shows. We need to protect students against this.”

The ban is the result of an agreement between the ministry, schools and related organizations.

Schools can find their own way to organize the ban, Dijkgraaf said, but legal rules will follow if this does not yield enough results by the summer of 2024.