Education Minister Tom Osborne says it makes sense that students in grades 7-12 have significantly more online school time than younger students.

Under its ‘Scenario 3’ guidelines where schools are closed, the English School District mandates an hour a day for K-3 students, 90 minutes a day for grades 4-6, and full-day education for grades 7-12.

Osborne was asked why there’s such a disparity between primary and elementary and high school.

He says more instruction is necessary at the higher grades because the course material is more intense and requires more face-to-face interaction with teachers.

In the previous news conference on Monday, Osbourne said there have been minimum timelines established such as one hour a day of online learning with a teacher for K-3 (increasing with grades) along with suggestions and activities for the remainder of the day. This is taking into consideration the amount of screen time and what’s healthy.