The parents have expressed happiness over the order of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development on restricting the weight of school bags of the students. In an order circulated to all the State Governments and the education boards, the MHRD has clearly said that no homework should be assigned to the students of class I and II. The order also restricts the weight of the school bag of a class I and II student to 1.5 kg. Similarly, the bag of class III to V student should not exceed 3 kg and the same of class VI-VII students has been restricted to 4 kg, of class VIII–IX student to 4.5 kg and class X student to 5 kg.
In the order, MHRD has instructed the States to formulate guidelines to regulate teaching of subjects and weight of the school bags of the students.
Sounding happy over the order, the president of All Uttarakhand Parents Association (AUPA) Niraj Singhal said that the order of MHRD is very good and should be strictly implemented. “We have been repeatedly raising the demand of reducing the weight of the school bag which has become a burden on the tender shoulders. Now, it is up to the CBSE and ICSE boards to implement the order in letter and spirit,’’ he said.
It is a fact that the children develop many problems due to regularly carrying the burden of heavy school bags.
Noted Orthopaedician, Dr Vineet Tyagi said while talking to The Pioneer that heavy bag brings stress on the child due to which back pain and muscle pain occur. He added that the posture of the child also gets affected by the heavy load of the school bag carried on the back.
Aruna Sharma, mother of a class VI student and resident of Basant Vihar, said, “My daughter returns very tired from the school. Her teachers insist that every note book and text book should be brought to the school. The order of the Government is very good, but I wonder whether it would be implemented or not. Our experiences are bad.”