Radio Jockey-turned-actor Balaji, who is known to speak up for social causes, has questioned the decision to conduct online classes for students in Tamil Nadu. (With the reopening of schools remaining unlikely in the foreseeable future, many educational institutions in the state have started taking classes digitally.)
Balaji, who uploaded a video in this connection on his Instagram handle, says not every student is equipped with the technology and hardware needed to attend online classes. He has asked the government to find out what other States are doing, consult experts, and re-evaluate the current system.
“Conducting classes for eight hours at a stretch for kids will be stressful for them. There are chances of them getting affected physically and mentally. When medical experts advise elders not to spend a lot of time on the system and mobile phones, how can you expect the children to do the same?
In some houses, there are three kids but they can only afford one mobile phone and laptop, so how will they attend the online classes?” he posted.
“Yes, I can understand that only by these online classes can fees be collected from parents. I can understand that you have to finish the syllabus. But is this the right solution?” he wondered.
Suggesting alternatives, he said, “How about uploading pre-recorded videos and asking students to listen to them whenever they are able to do so? One or two subjects can be taken up per day instead of asking the students to sit continuously for many hours.”
Many students have come out in support his opinions.
Actress Radhikaa Sarathkumar has also questioned the wisdom of online classes. She was responding to celebrity photographer Karthik Srinivasan’s video post on Twitter about his little son getting distracted while taking online classes for play school.
Radhikaa posted, “I don’t understand, why are schools doing this online classes for two-yr-olds, what could their attention span be? Parents will end up doing toddlers’ classes.”
When one user pointed out, “To get fees,” she promptly replied, “That’s taking the easy route,” with angry emojis.
