Who does the ban on online classes help? No one.

A ban is a blunt instrument designed to make a dramatic impact. It makes for great theatre of the mind because the public can imagine a sudden stop, the enforcer gets the satisfaction of making a grand gesture and everyone is expected to marvel at the decisiveness of action. But who do bans really help?

Take the ban announced by Karnataka on online classes upto 5th. Its purported intent is to bring equity because those children who don't have access to devices, can't attend online classes. And to assure health of young children because there are concerns around excessive screen time.

Let us evaluate each of these closely.

Equity: The government's argument is that children in rural areas and those of poor families do not have devices so online learning creates a divide between haves and have nots. So, should the government rob everyone of online classes or find ways to get education to those who don't have access? Using TV and radio like Kerala is doing or using physical outreach like Himachal is doing, the government could have helped children in rural areas and in poor families get access to learning. Instead, it has brought everyone down to level zero by banning online classes for everyone, when it would have been better to pull everyone up higher. The rich will still be able to buy some or the online app or teach their kids themselves. It is the lower middle class or poor who will suffer with this ban. Talk about unintended consequences!

Health: If we agree that online learning helps, and the concern is around screen duration, isn't it better to issue guidelines so that schools and parents can be better informed? We can use expert guidance from WHO here. Children under 5 years should ideally have no more than one hour of screen time. Children in primary should have less than 2 hours and children in middle can do between 2-3 hours. If there are further guidelines in improving the quality of online learning, the government do well to disseminate them. Make online learning multi modal. Don't just do online lectures. Have a mix of instruction and child-led activities. Have a mix of synchronous small group sessions and asynchronous classes. These are learnings that practitioners have gleaned that can be put to good use by everyone. In the absence of classes, students will spend more time in front of TVs or on mobile phone playing games. So we have merely replaced 'good' screen time with 'bad' screen time. Another set of unintended consequences!

Bans are blunt instruments. We need surgical precision in devising solutions for different segments of our population.

Bans are easy. All they require is a press conference. We need the hard work of planning and executing learning strategies so that education can each every child.

And frankly, bans run against the principle of freedom of choice. Each parent needs to have the freedom to choose what is right for their child. And if some parents do not have the ability to exercise choice, government should take efforts to empower them. Don't rob parents of choice, empower them with options.

I hope better sense prevails. I hope parents rally around schools for the benefit of their children and ask for revoking this ban. And I hope we can really, really work towards providing an excellent learning to every child.

#BanTheBan.