Shimla, Dec. 14 -- From the upcoming academic session, there would be a complete ban on students carrying mobile phones in school in Himachal. Besides, teachers won't be allowed to use mobiles. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced this on Saturday after the inauguration of the newly established state-of-the-art facilities at the directorate of Samagra Shiksha, including the Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK), education gallery, programme management studio conference area, new conference hall and a modern central heating system. "From the upcoming academic session, there will be a complete ban on students carrying mobile phones within school premises from pre-nursery to Class 12. Teachers will be permitted to keep phones in staff rooms or in their bags," he said. Sukhu said that during the last three years, the state government has accorded top priority to the education sector and implemented several decisive reforms. He said the Vidya Samiksha Kendra represents an important milestone in this transformative journey. He said the innovative initiatives such as 'Abhyas Himachal', geo-spatial technology-based smart attendance systems and 'Nipun Pragati' were ensuring scientific analysis of the learning levels of the children. He said the state government was planning large-scale recruitments in the education department, including both temporary and regular appointments. Temporary appointments would be made for a period of five years, while regular appointments would be carried out batch-wise through a competitive process. Recruitment of multi-utility workers would also be undertaken. From the next academic session, sports competitions at the primary school level would be organised, he said. He said that the government was also considering introducing a new transfer policy in the department and also contemplating creating a special cadre for Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools and CBSE curriculum schools....