HRD Ministry Issues Guidelines for Online Classes, Decides on the Cap on Duration

Vinod Kakumanu
Aug. 4, 2020, 2:32 p.m.

On July 14 the HRD Ministry issued guidelines for the online classes and also set a cap on the duration of such classes. The schools that are conducting online classes will be notified about the guidelines and are expected to adhere to them.

The guidelines were issued by the ministry in view of the concerns of the parents arising from the fact that the screen time of the children have risen beyond the acceptable standards. The schools have been conducting classes online as they remain physically closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The guidelines called ‘Pragyata’ contain the directions for online classes, it has been directed that the duration of online engagement of pre-primary students should not exceed 30 minutes. For classes 1-8 the duration has been set at two sessions of 45 minutes and for classes 9-12 , 4 sessions of 30-45 minutes have been allowed.

It was acknowledged that online classes are the need of the hour as extended school closure is impacting the learning of 240 million students who are enrolled. However, it was pointed out that the schools should re-imagine learning in a way to incorporate both school study and home study. The online classes should take care of the wellbeing of children and should not be to their detriment.

The guidelines, said to have been developed from the perspective of the students, aim at providing blended learning to them and enhance the quality of learning at the same time. They offer pointers and a roadmap to structure the online classes.

The schools have been closed down across the country since March 16 and they remain closed even after the lockdown restrictions have been eased. The online classes have emerged as the exclusive way for maintaining the continuity learning in such a situation.