Schools can now start their academic year via online classes as Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray has given a nod to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for conducting online education on Monday. This decision was taken via a video conference meeting with the state School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and other education officers.
On June 15, which marks the start of the academic cycle every year, the Free Press Journal had reported that schools do not have any clarity on starting classes online, as they await a final nod from the CM. Now, the CM has approved the guidelines suggested by the state Education Department, focusing on issues such as screen time, attention span and duration of online lectures.
According to the circular released by the state government approving the SOP, schools can conduct online lectures for an hour daily for students of Standard 3 to Standard 5, two hours for Standard 6 to Standard 8 and three hours for Standard 9 to Standard 12. Also, there should be breaks at regular intervals so that children do not spend continuous time in front of the screen. There will be no online lectures for students from pre-primary to Standard 2. But these students can learn via the education content provided on television (TV) and radio.
In addition, the state government has directed teachers and parents to take an extra effort and help children with e-learning. The circular stated, "Teachers should guide parents on methodologies of digital learning. Teachers should make available notes and other learning materials to students via digital applications. While, parents should provide their mobile phones or computers to children for online classes under supervision."
But, the blanket ban on online classes for pre-primary to Class 2 children has been opposed by members of the early education fraternity. Swati Popat Vats, president of Early Childhood Association (ECA), said, "Children below Standard 2 will lose socio-economic bonding if there are no online educational classes. These children might move to apps, learning platforms, TV or YouTube, which will increase screen time. There are parents who cannot homeschool. Also, teachers catering to these classes might lose jobs if there is a blanket ban on online education up to Standard 2."
Some schools have welcomed the decision of the state. The spokesperson of VIBGYOR group of schools said, "In consonance with our endeavour to provide academic continuity to our students, VIBGYOR will continue to conduct online learning lessons as per directions laid down by the Government of Maharashtra. Our virtual learning sessions are meant for uninterrupted learning for our students during the COVID-19 pandemic and we have already initiated online classes across all our schools in Maharashtra. For all our students from the pre-primary to Standard 2, who are in their formative years, it is important to ensure continuity in education. For them, we would use innovative means of distance learning to ensure our students don’t lag behind in the learning curve and would maintain consistency in learning on the resumption of schools.”
source https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/schools-get-cms-nod-to-begin-online-classes
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