The absence of guidelines by the Karnataka government on holding online classes for kids of various grades, despite the commencement of the academic year a month ago, has left several parents agitated in the city.
Unlike the previous year, the education department has not issued any guidelines on conducting the online classes leaving the schools to experiment with their own idea and putting the health of kids at risk. Much to the dismay of many, a few schools have begun online teaching to kids belonging to the age group of 4 to 6-years for four to five hours a day.
During the 2020-21 academic year, the education department had regulated the duration of online classes based on the report by Prof M K Sridhar Committee. The department had then warned the private schools of action if they conduct online classes by violating the guidelines. However, the department has not issued any such guidelines to date this academic year. Several parent groups have complained that a few private schools are conducting online classes for even first-grade students from 8 am to 12 noon.
“The prolonged timings are unacceptable and if we question, the schools argue that it is necessary to teach kids,” rued Prashanth Rao, a parent.
Many parents said that their kids have begun to experience intense irritation of the eyes, water discharge from the eyes, back pain and headache as they are glued to the glowing screens of gadgets, laptops and desktops for hours.
The last year order instructed the schools to follow a maximum of 30-minute screen time per session for kids between 3 and 6 years and for children above grade 6, the duration would be 30 to 45 minutes. All schools across the state, irrespective of the boards, were asked to stick to these guidelines while conducting online classes.
“Waking up kids so early and sitting next to them for 2 to 3 hours is next to impossible for working parents,” said Rishita Rai, yet another parent.
“We need to check if the recommendations are valid for this year as well. If so, we will issue a fresh regulation,” a senior official of the department said.