Phones are set to disappear from primary and lower secondary schools in Czechia. The Chamber of Deputies is considering a law under which, from September 2027, children would not be allowed to use a phone during lessons, at break times or in the after-school club. For parents, that is good news. But many of them gave their child a watch that can make calls instead of a phone, and now they are asking what will happen to it.
The answer is calmer than the headlines suggest. Let’s look at what applies today, what the law actually says and why KLOKI makes sense even at the strictest school.
In brief
- There is no nationwide ban today. The school rules decide.
- The bill bans phones and other communication devices from 1 September 2027. The Chamber of Deputies has not debated it yet.
- The law bans use, not carrying. The watch can stay on the wrist or in the school bag.
- KLOKI watches have no internet, games or social media. In school mode, they behave like an ordinary watch during lessons.
Today: the school rules decide
The Czech Education Act (Section 30(3)) currently allows schools to restrict or ban phones and other electronic devices in their school rules. According to a survey by the Czech Ministry of Education from May 2026, 93% of schools cover this in some way in their school rules.
In February 2026, the ministry issued guidance on these rules. It mentions smartwatches, but adds that schools do not have to regulate them. It recommends looking at specific functions, because “smartwatches can be set up to behave like ordinary watches”. That is exactly what school mode is for.
What the law is planning
In June 2026, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Education Minister Robert Plaga submitted an amendment to the Education Act. In July, the government expressed its support for it. The ban would apply in nursery schools, primary and lower secondary schools and the lower years of multi-year grammar schools: during lessons, at break times, in the canteen and in the after-school club. The proposed start date is 1 September 2027. The Chamber of Deputies has not yet debated it, not even at first reading.
The explanatory memorandum gives smartwatches as an example of “other electronic communication devices”. For parents, though, another sentence in the same document matters more: “what is prohibited is the use of the device, not the pupil having the device with them”.
So your child can keep the watch in their school bag, in a pocket or in the cloakroom. The school can set out in its rules where devices go during lessons. Your child only has to hand it in if they break the ban, and they get it back after lessons.
The wording of the law is not final either. In September, MPs tabled amendments. Under one, each school would set its own exceptions to the ban in its school rules. Under the other, a teacher could allow a child to contact a parent.
Parents want an exception for safety watches
Parents also point out that a watch that makes calls is not a phone. According to the Czech news site Novinky, they want the law to distinguish between actively using electronics and passively wearing a safety watch. “Schools can restrict active and disruptive use and at the same time allow children to wear safety GPS watches that work passively in a restricted school mode,” Michael Fletcher, the parent of a schoolgirl from Prague, told Novinky.
The National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic sees it in a similar way. “If the watch serves only as a GPS locator, there is no risk of distraction from apps or notifications, nor any of the risks associated with dopamine loops,” said its spokesperson Veronika Lucká Loosová.
And the ministry? In October, Martina Běťáková of the Ministry of Education replied to a parent that even if the law passes, it cannot be assumed that all schools will want watches switched off or put away.
Why KLOKI belongs at school
With watches, teachers mainly worry about two things: beeping in the middle of a lesson and cheating. KLOKI has an answer to both.
- No internet. You can’t search for anything on them, and there are no games or social media. Your child can only call contacts you approve.
- School mode. In the app, you set the days and hours to match the timetable. During that time, the watch goes silent on its own and blocks anything that could be disruptive. Only SOS and location sharing work, and the mode switches off by itself after lessons. You can have several modes, for example one for Monday and another for Friday. More about school mode.
So in school mode, KLOKI is exactly what the guidance describes: a smartwatch that behaves like an ordinary watch.
Jozef Melich, who teaches foreign languages in Nitra, summed it up like this: “As a teacher, I see lots of advantages to the watch. It doesn’t disrupt teaching, and I don’t have to deal with phones on desks.”
Primary school teacher Kateřina Oujeská sees the main benefit in the afternoon: “Thanks to KLOKI, parents know whether their child has arrived safely at an activity, or they can agree on a change of plans with them without tying them to a mobile phone.”
And if the school says: in the bag?
Even then, KLOKI is worth it. Your child spends a few hours at school; the rest of the day they are out and about. And that is where the watch does most of its work:
- on the way to school and back, when your child goes alone,
- at an activity or training, when plans change,
- outside with friends or at Grandma’s, when you want to know where they are,
- in an emergency, when one press of the SOS button lets you know they need help.
The phone ban also gives parents a good reason not to buy a young pupil a smartphone at all. They wouldn’t be allowed to use it at school anyway, and for the rest of the day a watch is enough: it lets them call, shows you where they are and doesn’t pull them online. Read more in the article Kids smartwatch instead of a phone.
How to work it out with the school
- Find the section on phones and electronic devices in the school rules.
- If it doesn’t mention watches, ask your child’s class teacher. It helps to show that KLOKI has no internet and that school mode silences it during lessons.
- Set up school mode to match the timetable on the very first day. If your child has a trip or a change to their timetable, adjust it.
- Agree with your child on when to check in. For example, with a voice message when they arrive at school and when they leave for home.
Both KLOKI Moon and KLOKI Star have school mode. You have 30 days to try them out.
Sources: Chamber of Deputies print no. 232 (the bill with its explanatory memorandum) and the amendments of 15 September 2026; Czech Ministry of Education guidance, ref. no. MSMT-3034/2026 (February 2026); Novinky.cz, 23 September 2026; Heroine EDU advice column, 8 October 2026. Status of the bill checked as of 10 November 2026.
