New Delhi, July 14: The guidelines for online schools released by the Union Ministry of Human Resources and Development (HRD) capped the screen time for students in order to prevent an adverse impact on their health. The minimum virtual education time has been allotted to pre-primary kids, and the maximum for students in the crucial grades of Class 9-12.

"Online classes for pre-primary students should not be for more than 30 minutes," the guidelines stated. In this group, the children are mostly aged between 3-6 and studying in lower and upper kindergarten. CBSE Syllabus Row: HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Sees 'False Narrative' in Criticism Over Dropping Certain Chapters.

The HRD Ministry, in its guidelines, further stated that students in Class 1-8 should be asked to attend not more than two online sessions - the timing of each would be 45 minutes. In all, they would be attending 1 hour and 30 minutes of online education per day.

For students in Class 9 to Class 12, the maximum virtual learning hours are permitted. Students in these grades can attend four online sessions, each stretching for not more than 45 minutes. Overall, they would be attending three hours of online schooling per day.

""The guidelines have been developed from the perspective of learners, with a focus on online, blended, digital education for students who are presently at home due to the lockdown. These guidelines on digital education provide a roadmap or pointers for carrying forward online education to enhance the quality of education," said Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Regular schooling in India was suspended in mid-March after the outbreak of coronavirus in the nation. The educational institutions could not be re-opened as the threat of pandemic is yet to subside.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 14, 2020 06:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).