HYDERABAD: The State government on Thursday informed the Telangana High Court that it would shortly announce its decision on schools holding online and distance education classes for students.
After hearing the government’s submissions, the court questioned the government as to how private schools are conducting online classes for students since the last few months even when the State is yet to make a decision.
It also expressed anguish over the functioning of some private schools which are holding online classes for four-five hours with a 20-minute break.
“You cannot have a child studying from Classes I to V sit in front of a screen for four hours continuously, because their attention span is not more than 10 minutes. If one still forces a child to sit in front of a screen for four hours, it will adversely affect them mentally and physically. Perhaps, we are asking the child to be more disciplined than what his/her age permits,” a bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, said.
It directed the government and the CBSE to file a counter affidavit on the issue. The bench passed this order over video-conference in a PIL filed by the Hyderabad School Parents’ Association (HSPA). Represented by its joint secretary, K Venkat Sainath, HSPA sought direction to the authorities to take action against the managements of private schools for conducting online classes and collecting fee in violation of GO 46 issued on April 21.
Special Counsel of Telangana, A Sanjeev Kumar, informed the court that the Cabinet had taken a decision on Wednesday and an official announcement would be made shortly. The Centre had issued a circular directing all States and UTs to formulate their own guidelines on the issue, he said.
The bench said that on one hand, the State is yet to make an official announcement on the issue, but private schools are conducting online classes and insisting that the parents pay the fees.
“Why can’t the State government come up with a clear cut decision on the issue?” it asked the government’s counsel.
It asked the counsel representing private schools holding online classes, to inform whether the students are being subjected to physical activities like drill classes since such subject would not be available in online classes. When the standing counsel for CBSE sought some time for filing the counter affidavit, the bench posted the matter to August 27.
Colleges warned against going ahead with admissions
After receiving several complaints from private degree colleges regarding admissions, the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) said the universities have not yet issued any notices for admissions.
Therefore, admissions conducted either by Degree Online Services Telangana(DOST) and non-DOST private degree colleges are unauthorised and shall be stopped immediately.
In a circular, TSCHE said if the colleges continue to go ahead with admissions it would be viewed seriously and may lead to cancellation of the affiliation