Coronavirus in Mumbai: School associations oppose blanket ban on online classes till Grade 2

Coronavirus in Mumbai: School associations oppose blanket ban on online classes till Grade 2

The associations claim there should be "No blanket ban" as it will cause academic loss to students, affect learning among kids during lockdown and also lead to teachers losing jobs.

Ronald RodriguesUpdated: Wednesday, June 17, 2020, 08:39 AM IST
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Members of International Schools Association (MISA), Early Childhood Association (ECA) and Association for Primary Education and Research have written to the state school education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Tuesday to reconsider the blanket ban on online classes for pre-primary to Class 2 students. The associations claim there should be "No blanket ban" as it will cause academic loss to students, affect learning among kids during lockdown and also lead to teachers losing jobs.

MISA, a group of 100 international schools, highlighted that they have been conducting online on-demand classes for pre-primary kids by following norms of minimum screen time, activity based learning, adequate breaks amd stimulation for children. Rohan Bhat, member of MISA, said, "Instead of banning online classes for students till Class 2, we can work around new measures to provide e-learning for children. Schools have been providing online teaching from nursery to Grade 2 and have gained positive responses from parents. We can have 30 minute online sessions with a 10 minute break in between daily to make use of the time and resources instead of no classes at all."

In the letter, MISA highlighted, "While excessive screen time is harmful, there is no emphirical evidence that online education causes any damage. Considering social distancing norms, children will be spending more time in front of television sets, computer screens while playing video games and indulging in other entertaiment. We believe screen time is better utilised if it is used to further online education leading to a net positive impact on the child."

While the ECA highlighted that a long break from school with no online education will lead to substantial loss of learning. Swati Popat Vats, president of ECA stated, "Long breaks from school may lead to academic, social, cognitive, emotional and psychological loss for students. Interacting with their teachers and classmates through interactive ways of learning helps keep children engaged."

In addition, Vats said teachers will lose jobs if there are no online classes for students till Grade 2. Vats added, "Teachers catering to these grades have worked hard for the last two months to curate content and prepare age appropriate healthy methods of teaching-learning. These teachers will lose jobs if there are no online sessions."

In response to these issues, Gaikwad said, "The blanket ban on online classes till Class 2 is to protect children of younger age from online screen time and instead divert them towards activity based learning through TV and Radio. We have taken this decision as parents have raised several concerns regarding online education for their kids." According to the circular released by the state government on June 15, the SOP guideline states, "There will be no online classes for children from pre-primary to Class 2. These students can learn through educational content on TV and Radio."

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