Karnataka High Court Stays State Government's Ban Imposed on Conducting Online Classes Upto Class 10th

Bengaluru, July 8: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday stayed the state government’s orders passed on June 15 and June 27 imposing ban on conducting online classes by schools till 10th Standard. The court said that the ban on online classes violates Articles 21 and 21A of the Constitution on the fundamental right to education. The interim order was passed by A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy.

Last month, the high court told the BS Yediyurappa government in Karnataka to come up with an interim solution until the expert committee submits its report, after which temporary guidelines were issued for conducting online classes. On June 29, The Karnataka government issued guidelines to conduct online classes for students in the state amid coronavirus pandemic.

The government said that these were temporary guidelines until the expert committee submits its report. In the temporary guidelines issued by the Yediyurappa government, there will be 30 minutes online class for kindergarten students in a week and for classes one to five, there will be 30-45 mins online lectures divided into two periods.

The lectures for these classes will be conducted for three alternate days a week. Similarly, for classes six to eight, 30-45 mins online lectures divided into two periods and will be conducted five days a week. As per the directions of the Karnataka government, for classes nine to ten, 30-45 mins divided into four periods for five days a week. On Monday, the state government defended its decision to ban online classes. It said that it had imposed restrictions on online classes to protect the health of children.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 08, 2020 04:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).