Schools told to ensure their weight is not more than 10% of that of the child

Children weighed down by schoolbags will finally get some relief. The Karnataka government on Friday issued an order directing all schools in the State, including government, aided and unaided institutions, to ensure that the weight of a schoolbag is not more than 10% of the child’s weight.

As per the order, a bag of a student in Class 1 or 2 should weigh no more than 2 kg. It can weigh anywhere between 2 and 3 kg for students from Class 3 to 5. The prescribed weight increases progressively, with students in Class 9 and 10 allowed to carry bags in the 4-5 kg range.

No homework

The order also states that students in Classes 1 and 2 should not be given any homework. Schools must set a timetable in advance, which will limit the number of books that have to be brought to class every day. All classwork should be kept in the school itself, either in files or books.

Managements have been directed to create awareness about the health hazards of lugging heavy school bags. The order also says that schools must provide some space in classrooms where students can store their notebooks and textbooks. Another measure to ease the daily load is to make provisions for drinking water facilities so students don’t have to carry water bottles.

Schools have also been directed not to ask students to keep books of more than 100 pages, while the third Saturday of every month should be followed as a “No School Bag Day”. On that day, teachers have to engage students without any books or supplementary materials. Suggested activities include field visits, general knowledge clubs, art classes, indoor and outdoor games, abacus, dance classes, and debates.

Not all schools have welcomed the move, claiming that the limit was assigned without enough evidence. “We object to the unscientific method by which the weight of the bag has been fixed. Practical observation and bags available in the market were not considered. Our objections were not considered,” said D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka.

The order comes after the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development in October last year directed all States to draw up guidelines to reduce the weight of schoolbags. Following this, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education took up a pilot study, which was conducted by the Directorate of State Education, Research and Training and the Centre for Child and Law, National Law School of India University.