State govt. to ban online teaching for kindergarten children

Decision based on NIMHANS report which stated that children upto 6 years of age should not be subjected to this process

The State government will put an end to online classes being conducted for LKG and UKG children by a few educational institutions and will issue a circular directing the institutions to suspend the classes.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S.Suresh Kumar told mediapersons here on Friday that the decision is based on the NIMHANS report which stated that children upto 6 years of age should not be subjected to online teaching.

The Minister said there were complaints from various quarters including parents of affected children that a few educational institutions had introduced such classes. “Online is the new buzzword in the present times and parents of LKG and UKG children were being harassed for fee. I wrote a letter to NIMHANS seeking a comprehensive report on the pros and cons of online teaching for children’’, said Mr. Suresh Kumar.

The NIMHANS report has clearly stated that online classes should not be conducted for children up to 6 years of age and based on this report the Education Department will issue a circular next week calling for suspension of such classes.

On the commencement of the new academic year, Mr. Suresh Kumar said they were waiting for guidelines from the Centre. The Education Department has held a series of discussions with experts on the issue and had sought the opinion of other stakeholders including parents.

“But in case of schools there were apprehensions among the parents whether it was safe and many have stated categorically that they will not send their children to schools at this juncture. All these issues will be factored in before taking any decision on the commencement of the new academic year and it will be made clear next week, the Minister said.

The delay in the commencement of the new academic year may have a bearing on the syllabus which could be curtailed depending on the extent of delay.

The Minister said all social distancing norms and safety measures will be in place and nearly 6.5 lakh students across Karnataka appearing for the SSLC examination will be provided masks. The evaluation of the II PUC answer scripts (barring English rescheduled for June 18) was already underway and the results may be expected sometime in July. Likewise, the results of the SSLC examination – to be held from June 25 to July 4 – may be expected by July end.