Noida, Schools across Noida and Greater Noida have been asked by the district administration to cap daily screen time at 30 minutes for primary students and 60 minutes for upper-primary students following complaints that children in several schools were spending four to five hours a day using smart and digital boards.
School management committees have been directed to discuss the guidelines on balanced use of smart and digital boards and students’ health, with the minutes of such meetings to be shared with parents during parent-teacher meetings. For online classes, schools have been asked to follow NCERT guidelines regarding session duration and breaks, as well as the 20-20-20 practice, under which students should look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds after every 20 minutes of screen use.
The administration said parents’ associations had complained that smart and digital boards were being used continuously for teaching, including displaying textbooks and conducting classwork, question-answer sessions and homework. “Smart and digital boards are a supplementary medium to make teaching more effective, but their continuous and unnecessary use should not affect the health, studies, sports and other activities of students,” the statement noted. The guidelines call for “limited, balanced and purposeful use of smart boards and digital boards” in schools, keeping in view the health and overall development of students. Schools have been asked to use smart boards mainly “for explaining difficult concepts and displaying pictures, videos and necessary teaching material” rather than continuously displaying textbooks. For writing, practice, question-answer sessions and activities involving student participation, schools have been directed to ensure regular use of blackboards, whiteboards or greenboards, it said. The administration also directed schools to “maintain screen brightness and classroom lighting appropriately”, ensure students maintain a proper distance from screens and “provide breaks after about 20 minutes of screen use”.
