Kids who can’t read a traditional clock

Schools pick digital ones so pupils can tell time

SO many teenagers can no longer read traditional clocks that schools are installing digital ones in exam halls instead.

A generation of pupils who have grown up using their phones to tell the time are flummoxed by analogue clocks, teachers claim.

In the past, parents might have bought a child their first wrist watch in primary school – but many are now skipping this step in favour of a smartphone.

The phenomenon was exposed by a teacher at a conference in London.

She said: ‘It is amazing the number of students I am coming across in Year 10, 11 and in sixth form who do not know how to tell the time.

‘We live in a world where everything is digital. We are moving towards a digital age and they do not necessarily have analogue watches any more – and they have mobile phones with the time on.’

The teacher, who did not want to give her name, was speaking at a conference last month held by Partners in Excellence, a partnership of more than 2,500 schools and sixth forms. Her claim was backed up by delegates from a range of secondary schools, who said it was common for GCSE candidates not to be able to read an analogue clock, the Times Educational Supplement reported.

And on Twitter, a number of other teachers agreed, with some saying they were having to bring in digital clocks to exam halls.

Niall Dosad, an assistant headmaster at a primary in London, said: ‘Children tend to get bought an iPhone before they get a wrist watch, if [ they get one] at all.’

English teacher Sarah Ledger replied: ‘Yep. Doesn’t help in exams. Or detentions.’ Stephanie Keenan, a head of Eng- lish, added: ‘ True. We installed digital clocks in the exam hall.’

School governor Naureen Khalid said: ‘They don’t need to learn how to tell the time; they’ve got phones!’

The national curriculum for five- and six-year-olds requires pupils to learn to tell the time on an analogue clock, and to be able to draw hands on a clock face marking the hour and half hour.

However, primary education expert Sue Cowley suggested that many children simply forget this skill soon after learning it.

There are concerns that adults are also losing the skill of reading an analogue clock. While appearing on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity in 2013, reality TV star Joey Essex – then 23 – said he didn’t know how to tell the time using a traditional clock.

And three years ago, a poll of 2,197 people by a watch company found 14 per cent could not tell the time using an analogue watch.

One third of these respondents said that they owned an analogue watch but couldn’t properly use it. Many said it was just a fashion accessory.

‘Get an iPhone before a watch’