Spotlight: Should kids have extended learning time online?

With schools resorting to extended teaching hours online and keeping children occupied in front of the computers, many parents have a diverse opinion about it. Unlike last year, students in primary and middle classes are asked to sit in front of the screen for 6 hours, which may have positive and negative results among the children of that age. While some say the extended hours from three or four hours to 6 hours may have many adverse impacts on the kids, while many have welcomed the move saying this will fetch better results for the kids. “Undoubtedly, kids are going to be in front of the computers or tabs for long whether they are attending classes or not. So, extending the timing can result in spending more productive hours per day,” Rukshana Sidhiq, mother of three, said. However, parents are concerned about their kids spending more time with digital gadgets and less on sports or other activities that require physical exercise. “Such a move can affect them adversely and result in health issues including problems with eyes, brain, and make them spend less time for sports or extracurricular activities”, Sajid Rahman, another parent argues. Several parents have approached the school authorities with a memorandum detailing why they oppose such a move. Teachers opine that kids are given long breaks, which allow them to relax their eyes. Moreover, they are asked not to leave the class, but keep it muted during the break. “This is a very unrealistic and unhealthy practice. No student can grasp 6 hours of teaching in a day. Their attention span is very less! You cannot compare physical class room teaching with online classes,” an irked parent lamented. Doctors say that students tend to sit on a sofa or bed wherever they feel comfortable, but this will cause losing muscle mass and other health issues like back pain. “Moreover, such a move is against the CBSE recommendation and Government of India Ministry of Human Resource Development guidelines. For classes 1 to 8, not more than two sessions (30-45 minutes) are allowed,” parents added. “In my view, kids are, anyhow, spending their time in front of a TV or any gadgets. If children are engaged in online classes, then at least they are under the surveillance of the teachers even though they can’t assure if they are focusing in the class or not,” says KT Manoj, another parent. “Actually 50 per cent of teachers’ work is done by mothers since they have to shuttle between chores and kids online class,” adds Indu Baburaj, a parent of two. However, when asked, a teacher from an expatriate school said that everyone has to share responsibilities during this challenging time. Still, there should be a healthy proportion and division of online and offline engagements like written assignments. “We cannot completely avoid digital classes, but can surely divide the total study time to a healthy proportion of online and offline engagements,” said the teacher.