NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Education has issued a set of guidelines which, if implemented, will help reduce the weight of school bags. The recommendations were made by a committee formed by DoE.
The schools have been asked to devise timetables carefully. Principals have been asked to "frame a ...timetable ... so that children do not have to carry too many books or notebooks ... and also ensure that co-curricular activity periods, along with other periods, are held on a daily basis thereby having an equitable distribution of weight of school bags". The other change schools are expected to make is in their homework schedules. They have been asked to "stagger" homework assignments so students don't have to carry books and notebooks back and forth too often.
Other instructions include directions to parents, asking them to supervise when their kids pack their bags as they shouldn't carry more that what their timetables require. Carrying reference books or multiple books for the same subject is also being discouraged. Schools have been asked to sensitize teachers and parents of the long-term health implications of carrying heavy bags.
Doctors say kids start stooping from leaning forward to balance and also develop back pain and bad posture. "The school should teach correct lifting and carrying techniques as part of their health education programmes," says the circular.
Parents have been asked to buy "child-friendly bags" which are light and comfortable to carry. Some parents have solved the problem by opting for strolley bags designed for schools that are easily available now. However, while kids can drag these bags on pavements and in corridors, they still have to carry them up staircases and to their buses. These are also relatively expensive, most costing upward of Rs1,000.
Education bodies have been trying to solve this problem for many years. In reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the ministry of human resource development had pointed out in 2008 that the Central Board of Secondary Education has already issued guidelines on school bags.
The minister of state for HRD, M A A Fatmi, had told Rajya Sabha, "The problem of heavy school bag was brought out in the report 'Learning without Burden' in 1993. National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, has several recommendations on reduction of physical, psychological and transactional load on schoolchildren. Based on NCF, new syllabi and textbooks have been prepared by NCERT and have been adopted in schools affiliated to CBSE. Several states have also revised their syllabi and textbooks based on NCF, 2005".
The DoE circular also instructs the heads of schools to ensure that school bags of children are not heavy and are monitored on a regular basis.
The schools have been asked to devise timetables carefully. Principals have been asked to "frame a ...timetable ... so that children do not have to carry too many books or notebooks ... and also ensure that co-curricular activity periods, along with other periods, are held on a daily basis thereby having an equitable distribution of weight of school bags". The other change schools are expected to make is in their homework schedules. They have been asked to "stagger" homework assignments so students don't have to carry books and notebooks back and forth too often.
Other instructions include directions to parents, asking them to supervise when their kids pack their bags as they shouldn't carry more that what their timetables require. Carrying reference books or multiple books for the same subject is also being discouraged. Schools have been asked to sensitize teachers and parents of the long-term health implications of carrying heavy bags.
Doctors say kids start stooping from leaning forward to balance and also develop back pain and bad posture. "The school should teach correct lifting and carrying techniques as part of their health education programmes," says the circular.
Parents have been asked to buy "child-friendly bags" which are light and comfortable to carry. Some parents have solved the problem by opting for strolley bags designed for schools that are easily available now. However, while kids can drag these bags on pavements and in corridors, they still have to carry them up staircases and to their buses. These are also relatively expensive, most costing upward of Rs1,000.
Education bodies have been trying to solve this problem for many years. In reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the ministry of human resource development had pointed out in 2008 that the Central Board of Secondary Education has already issued guidelines on school bags.
The minister of state for HRD, M A A Fatmi, had told Rajya Sabha, "The problem of heavy school bag was brought out in the report 'Learning without Burden' in 1993. National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, has several recommendations on reduction of physical, psychological and transactional load on schoolchildren. Based on NCF, new syllabi and textbooks have been prepared by NCERT and have been adopted in schools affiliated to CBSE. Several states have also revised their syllabi and textbooks based on NCF, 2005".
The DoE circular also instructs the heads of schools to ensure that school bags of children are not heavy and are monitored on a regular basis.
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