New Delhi, 14 July: The Ministry of Human Resources of Development (HRD) on Tuesday has issued guidelines called ‘Pragyaata’ for the number and duration (screen cap) of online classes to protect students from mental and physical stress and other diseases during online education in the Corona period.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank released these guidelines through digital medium on Tuesday.
As per the instructions, online classes for pre-primary students should not exceed 30 minutes. At the same time, it is advised to hold two online sessions of 30-45 minutes duration from first to eighth grade and four sessions of 30-45 minutes duration for classes 9 to 12.
There are eight stages of online and digital education under ‘Pragyaata’ guidelines. This includes plan- review- arrangement- guide- yak (talk) – assign- track- appreciation. These steps guide the planning and implementation of digital education, step by step with examples.
Nishank said that the schools were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and affected more than 24 crore students in the country. School closures can lead to loss of education.
He further said that to reduce the impact of the pandemic, schools would not only have to remodel their way of teaching and learning so far but also to provide quality education at home and in school through a healthy synergy of schooling. Appropriate method will also have to be introduced.
Minister told that the guidelines would be relevant and useful for various stakeholders including school leaders, teachers, parents, teacher educators and students. The guidelines emphasize the use of NCERT’s alternative academic calendar. It also takes care of the availability of digital devices with learners and students with limited or no digital resources.
It is noteworthy that in the new academic session started in April in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, reading and writing are going on only through online classes.
