69% parents want the Government to increase the proposed screen time limits for online classes

Many parents want Government to increase the proposed screen time limits for online classes

July 24, 2020, New Delhi: Schools across the country have been closed for over 4 months now, with no estimates on when they would reopen. To bridge the gap, schools from across the country started conducting online classes for students which have been running well for majority of the school. The increased screen time and its effects on children is however an issue that some parents have been concerned about. The Ministry of Human Resource Development recently came out with a fresh set of guidelines for online classes conducted by schools, limiting the on-screen time as well as the number of sessions per day. To get a parent perspective on how long these online classes should be, LocalCircles conducted a survey across the country and received 21,322 votes, which included responses from 239 districts of the country. MHRD, Government of India has recommended states to limit daily screen time for online school classes to classes 9-12 at 3 hours, classes 1-8 at 1.5 hours, pre-primary at 30 minutes with parents. Parents were asked what according to them is the best solution to this.

In response 29% said what Government has proposed above is appropriate while 18% said the daily limit should be Classes 9-12 at 5 hours, Classes 6-8 at 4 hours, Classes 1-5 at 3 hours and Pre-Primary at 1 hour. 31% said the daily limit should be Classes 9-12 at 4 hours, Classes 6-8 at 3 hours, Classes 1-5 at 2 hours and Pre-Primary at 1 hour, and 7% said the daily limit should be Classes 9-12 at 3 hours, Classes 6-8 at 2.5 hours, Classes 1-5 at 2 hours, Pre-Primary at 1 hour. 13% said the daily limit should be Classes 9-12 at 3 hours, Classes 6-8 at 2.5 hours, Classes 1-5 at 1.5 hours, Pre-Primary at 30 minutes.

69% parents oppose the screen time limits for online classes proposed by the Government; Want higher limits and a separate category for classes 6-8 as well

This shows that 69% parents oppose the screen time limits for online classes proposed by the Government. Many parents have suggested that the limits should be higher and a separate category should be created for classes 6-8, as the curriculum and requirements of this group is different than those in primary school.

If we breakdown the findings of this survey class wise, 18% parents said that the optimal time limit for online classes for classes 9-12 is 5 hours, 31% said 4 hours, while 49% said 3 hours. The Government has currently recommended 3 hours which means 49% parents want the limits extended.

49% parents of class 9-12 children want duration of online classes to be more than the Government proposed limit of 3 hours

For classes 6-8, 18% parents said the optimal time limit should be 4 hours, 31% said 3 hours, 2% said 2.5 hours, and 29% said 1.5 hours. The Government has currently proposed 1.5 hours and 69% parents feel that they should be extended.

69% parents of class 6-8 children want duration of online classes to be more than the Government proposed limit of 1.5 hours

For classes 1-5, 18% parents said time limit should be 3 hours, 38% said 2 hours, and 42% said 1.5 hours. Here again, the Government has proposed 1.5 hours and 56% parents want the duration of online classes to be extended.

56% parents of class 1-5 children want duration of online classes to be more than the Government proposed limit of 1.5 hours

For pre-primary students, 56% parent feel the optimal time duration would be 1 hour while 42% said it would be 30 minutes. Again, here the Government has proposed 30 minutes and 56% want it extended.

56% parents of pre-primary children want duration of online classes to be more than the Government proposed limit of 30 minutes

An earlier poll conducted by LocalCircles had revealed that majority parents do not want the schools to restart till atleast their district and its 20 km radius reports zero cases for 21 days. 76% parents had also said that it is unfeasible or very difficult for their child’s school to operate with social distancing.

These MHRD guidelines are not binding but the State Government could enforce them and before that happens, these inputs will help the Government in rationalising them. The idea behind online classes according to majority of the parents should be to cover the curriculum while ensuring that the screen time is not excessive. Some parents feel that there should be standards on how these online classes are conducted such that use of screen once the classes are over is minimised.

LocalCircles will share the findings of this survey with senior leadership of MHRD and all states.

Survey Demographics

21,322 responses were received across 239 districts of India. 62% respondents were men while 38% respondents were women. 58% respondents were from tier 1, 23% from tier 2 and 219% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. They survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants are validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.