Explainer: What should be the weight of a school bag

Hyderabad: The central government has decided not to reopen educational institutions, even though they have announced Unlock 1.0 in the country.

Schools and colleges are likely to remain closed for a longer period. However once re-opened, concerns regarding the exorbitant fee, weight of school bags will haunt parents.

Has the central government taken steps to reduce the weight of the school bag?

According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the government has issued a communication dated 05/10/2018 to all States and UTs to ‘formulate guidelines to regulate the teaching of subjects and weight of school bags’. These include:

1. The weight of school bags for students of Class I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg.

2. The maximum weight of school bags for Classes III to V students is 2-3 kg, for classes VI to VII students is 4 kg, for classes VIII to IX students is 4.5 kg, and for class X students is 5 kg.

3. Students should not be asked to bring additional books and other materials apart from the prescribed textbooks. It should be ensured that students carry only such textbooks as necessary as per the time-table

4. Schools cannot prescribe any other subject except language and mathematics for Classes I and II students, and language, mathematics, and EVS for Classes III to V students.

5. Schools have been instructed to assign no homework to students of Classes I and II

What are the recommendations of the National Council of Education Research and Training?

1. New syllabi and textbooks reflect the NCF 2005 perspective on curriculum load and are interactive and based on child-centered pedagogy.

2. NCERT has recommended only two books (language and mathematics) for Classes I and II and three books (language, EVS, and mathematics) for Classes III to V.

3. NCERT has also made available all textbooks for free access through web and mobile devices

4. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued circulars specifying the maximum number of books to be prescribed in classes I-VIII. They have also issued circulars which provides detailed guidelines to schools, teachers, and parents to reduce the weight of school bags and advisory to schools to ensure no homework for students till Class II