re your questions, I don't believe the spending of 9m on pouches is pointless, have a daughter who is a teacher and she says phone use is rife despite best efforts at control, ,breaks concentration and at break times ,kids just sit around glued to phones.first years especially who may not even know someone in their classes are Isolated and find themselves socially excluded .do I think 9m is excessive cost and could it be spent in a better way ,of course yes but there are always choices with funding and I think this is a worthwhile path to try.
Your other question
Yes I do have family and friends affected by funding in lots of ways including education ,I'd imagine most people do .