Parents upset over e-classes for pre-primary students

Bhopal: Parents of students in private schools are pretty disappointed with the school education department's decision to start online classes for students of pre-primary and primary section as they feel that classes for such small children are harmful to their eyes.

Many parents are concerned about exposing the children to mobile phones for learning nursery rhymes, alphabets and numbers.

“My son is in nursery and his school has started online classes for nursery and kindergarten. How can schools expect such small children to sit before the mobile or laptop? The atmosphere in schools where children meet their friends, play, draw and learn rhymes with actions is completely different, but these are things parents can teach their children at home too. ,” said Bharat Singh, an actor.

“Children have got accustomed to being at home and have their own routines. We cannot force such small children in kindergarten and class 1 to wake up and act like it is school time because. They are getting confused and are unable to concentrate on their studies. Besides, exposing them to the laptop and mobile phone screens every day will have negative impact on their eyes,” said homemaker Darshita Matani, a mother of two.

Worried about the harmful effects of the LED screens on their children’s eyes, some parents are also opting to get their children out of the school.

“My daughter is in class 2 and is a very sincere student. But the 2-3 hour-long online classes were taking a toll on her eyesight. I do not want her to develop shortsightedness at the age of 7 when she is still growing. I decided to get her out of the school and am teaching her at home, with her books. I have ordered more books, educational puzzles, quizzes etc to help her break the monotony . The unnecessary pressure of online classes on such small children was causing headaches,” said Prateek Sharma, an urban farmer.

Parents have started feeling that the schools are not concerned about learning, but have only started the classes so that they can ask for fee from the parents.

Prabodh Pandya, secretary of MP Parents Association, said, “Parents are scared to say it out loud as their children are in private schools, but they very well understand that these are just tactics to extract fee from the parents. How can the schools compensate for the whole 4-5 hours of activities, including sports, art and music, in online classes?”

Doctors have also warned educators and parents about the negative impact of mobiles and laptops on developing children and advised parents to keep their children away from the screen as far as possible.

Though according to the World Health Organization, children from 2 to 5 years of age should only be allowed less than one hour of screen time, schools conducting online classes for pre-primary and primary school children last for 1 to 2 hours.

“Initially my son, in class 1, was very excited to see his friends and teachers on the phone. But now it has been 3three months and he is developing constant headaches. We took him to an ophthalmologist and the doctor advised us to limit his screen time. But ,” said Renuka Singh, mother of a five-year-old.

Dr Brijesh Lahri, MD, Ophthalmology, said, “It is better if children under 8 years are given less than one hour of screen time as the tissues of their eyes are very fragile and can be harmed by the blue rays of the laptops and mobile screens, damaging the cells and creating various kinds of eye problems. I think schools should give priority to the health of the students instead of forcing them to sit before the screens.”

Psychologists have also observed that spending too much time online caused children to become more irritable. Lack of exercise and physical activity coupled with online classes also made them more prone to obesity and stress.