The Tamil Nadu Government Employees Teachers Welfare Association on Saturday, May 21, sent a petition to the school education department, asking for a halt to the process of issuing homework to the students through mobile phones. The contention is that students are being addicted to mobile phones in this way, and stand at the risk of affected mental health.

The president of the association, S Arunan, additionally warned that if this practice continued, the students may be severely affected. And in order to curb mobile usage among school children, he urged the school education department to release an order that teachers should not give any homework to students using mobile phones.

He said, "After COVID-19, students started to use the mobile for online education and other educational activities. During the COVID-19, teachers sent educational materials in PDF format, homework, etc to students' WhatsApp groups. The students also sent homework and test papers in the WhatsApp groups using the mobile," he said as reported by ENS.

"At the same time, some students got addicted to the games and online games on the mobiles. Some girl students are using social media and useless applications in the Play Store. Mobile usage affects the students' mental health. Meanwhile, even after physical classes at schools resumed from September 2021, some government school teachers give homework to the students from primary and higher secondary sections, like in the COVID-19 times," he explained.

A teacher from a panchayat union middle school at Coimbatore confirmed this fact. "A few teachers are still giving homework to students using the mobile phone, as they are following a habit without knowing themselves. Teachers have to change this habit. This practice is high in middle schools," she said. A top officer from the directorate of elementary education told ENS that the issue was being checked.