Phones in classrooms – yes or no? These countries are taking radically different approaches

As AI tools become an everyday reality, countries face a choice: ban the tech or build with it. Estonia and Lithuania are already building. The UK? Still banning.

When a pupil enters the classroom, should they place their phone in the forbidden box, or be encouraged to participate using their device?

This is the question at the heart of education currently, as Estonia will launch an initiative in September for students in the tenth and eleventh grades to use AI.

Anthropic and Open AI have already been onboarded on AI Leap 2025, and 20,000 students will get access to the cutting-edge initiative.

What’s more, 2000 teachers will receive training for this educational experiment, which is crucial for the smooth integration of learning.

The Baltic Flex

The move is not flashy. Instead Estonia is playing the long game in a digital ecosystem that’s already state-of-the-art.

Rote memorization will be replaced by AI-assisted problem solving, cognitive adaptability, and creative pursuits.

As the education minister quipped, “We let students vote online – but tell them not to use ChatGPT?” It shows that the most northerly Baltic state is equipping future generations for the real world.

The other Baltic states are also getting in on the act. Lithuania is rolling out free AI access through nexos.ai and Hostinger Solutions, while Latvia is taking a more decentralised path, focusing on university guidelines and pilot programs rather than nationwide student rollouts.

Confiscate and carry on

In the UK, for example, students are treated like recovering gamblers, as over 90% of secondary schools have banned the use of smartphones.

AI tools like ChatGPT are often viewed suspiciously, feared as shortcuts for cheating, rather than learning aids.

Most schools cling to exam-focused teaching, resisting the shift to AI-driven cognitive skills.

This defensive stance leads to students still bringing phones, hiding them, and missing out on guided, responsible tech use, widening the gap between policy and reality, and perhaps punishing them in the process.

Education as a national tech test

Handling disruption should be part and parcel of the education system, and Estonia's education system is a leap ahead.

Lithuania, hot on its tail, has also made a respectable integration of AI, as tech can co-exist alongside other mediums like books and videos.

For educators and policymakers, the question isn’t if AI is coming, but whether their students will be ready when it does.