French high schools scramble to work out rules as phone ban takes effect

Pupils put their phones in their lockers after switching them off at the Auguste Brizeux high school in Lorient, western France, where this is mandatory. As of September, all French high schools will be required to put in place rules banning phones. © Loic Venance/AFP

The new school year starts on Tuesday in France, and with it comes a new rule: mobile phones will no longer be allowed in high schools. The ban came into force a week before the first day of term, leaving schools with little time to work out how to put it into practice.

The government confirmed last Monday that the ban would take effect from the start of the new school year on Tuesday, 1 September.