According to an online poll on the Local Circles, it has found that most parents want longer online classes. A majority of the over 20,000 respondents thought the limits were too restrictive, with parents from Karnataka, Delhi and Tamil Nadu especially keen to allow longer classes. Although the Centre has recommended a three-hour limit on virtual learning classes for school kids, it is up to states to actually frame and enforce mandatory norms. 

The poll received responses from 21,322 registered respondents, who said they were parents or grandparents of school going children. It found that about half of parents wanted a four or five-hour limit for high-school goers and a two to three-hour limit for classes 1-5. The parents also proposed a new category of classes 6-8 suggesting a 2.5-3 hour limit for this group who cannot be clubbed in with primary schoolchildren.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, a majority of parents believed that the overall cap of three hours proposed by the government should be followed. Only about a sixth of parents in these states wanted a 5-hour cap instead.

In Karnataka, on the other hand, only a third of parents are happy with the three-hour cap. Delhi and Tamil Nadu also have about a quarter of parents who want the maximum five-hour limit suggested on the poll.

Local Circles chairman Sachin Taparia said, “Screen time is not just about the live online classes. Teachers and schools have been haphazard in the way they give assignments in the new set-up, resulting in many children spending hours on the computer after the classes as well. It would be better to recommend zero screen time once classes are over to protect the children.”

Source: The Hindu

Also read: MHRD issues guidelines for online classes by schools