The Ministry of Human Resources Development has come out with the Pragyata Guidelines for Digital Education.
As per the guidelines, schools have been permitted to hold online classes for certain duration only, for different classes. These guidelines have been prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to act as guidelines for all the states whereas the state governments have been given the liberty to devise their own rules and regulations.
MHRD GUIDELINESS
- Schools can hold online classes for a maximum of 1.5 hours per day for students of classes I-VIII whereas for the students of classes IX-XII, this can be for a maximum duration of three hours per day.
- For the students in kindergarten, nursery and pre-school, around 30 minutes’ screen time per day is mandated for interacting with the parents.
- Online synchronous learning can be undertaken for maximum two sessions of 30-45 minutes each, for classes I-VIII, on the days on which the states / UTs hold online classes.
- For classes IX-XII, the maximum number of sessions should be restricted to four sessions per day and also a break of 10-15 minutes should be provided between the sessions.
- Asynchronous learning should also be promoted through downloaded lessons, radio or TV programs, and communication through Whatsapp and SMS on their own so that they can also undertake creative projects on their own.
- It should also be kept in mind that multiple children from the same family might be using the same device and timetable of sessions should consider that also. It also holds true for teachers also as they might be parents also required to supervise their children’s learning.
- The guidelines have also taken into account students who may not have any digital infrastructure at home or students who may be differently abled.
