PUNE: Staying online for two-three hours daily, followed by homework is adding to the pressure on parents as they sit with young children attending classes. Parents with work schedules are doubly hard-pressed for time and thus stretched.
Anita Jangid, an IT professional, said her son who is in Std III attends online classes from 8.40am till 2pm, which were his regular school hours.
“The sports and music periods do not interest him when done online and we don’t force him to attend. As for the subjects, it is a task more for parents than the children. They are used to the system and can easily mute themselves or switch off the video. The attention span is very less and even if a student changes the background of his or her screen, the entire class gets distracted and it takes both the teacher and the parent to bring the class to order. There are parents who put a lot of pressure on children and make them attend everything which is stressful, but we do not want to stress our son,” she said.
Jangid said young parents are also full of doubts. “Everything is new for us. We need to find the right balance between monitoring the child, making him study and letting him do what he wants to do. Counsellors are an option but not every family can afford or wants to visit a counsello. Hence, it is chaotic and we are just hoping that what we are doing is right for our child,” she added.
Another parent said in a 40-50 minute class, the student is attentive only for the first 10-15 minutes. “It is the parents who take down notes. Then there are class tests and MCQs for which the child needs to be prepared which is done by us. Homework, worksheets and assignments need to be submitted. From morning till night, parents are engaged in either one thing or the other related to online classes apart from their regular office work and housework. The stress on parents of this age group is enormous,” the parent added.
Another parent Leena Dulbake said the school tells the parents to physically drop off the worksheets and answer sheets during exams.
“During examinations, the children are not expected to go to the washroom. And if they do and it takes longer time, parents are questioned. Apart from students, it feels like parents are also under the scanner to perform well.”
