Any school not putting in place the new ban on phones will face a visit from the Education Review Office, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
Stanford and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have addressed media at the regular post-Cabinet conference after announcing the government's new education priorities.
It comes as the coalition government's ban on phones in schools comes into action.
The government is facing backlash after Te Whatu Ora confirmed public hospitals needed to make target savings of $105 million by July, saying it was about bringing the organisation back to budget.
It said several districts have gone over budget in the past three months, adding it is "reducing the overspend, not making cuts".
Former Te Whatu Ora chairperson Rob Campbell said that felt like a last-minute panic on behalf of management.
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