BENGALURU: Parents of school-going children have welcomed the move by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the commitment by the state to take a serious look at reducing the burden of schoolbags on children.
The communication, which was sent out to states last month, is set to be followed up by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education, which has, in the past, been unable to regulate the weight of schoolbags. While Karnataka has in the past raised the issue, this time around, parents are hoping for some action on the ground.
“These bags are sometimes impossible for adults to lift and carry, and we expect our children to do it. It can have serious physical effects on children, who are still growing. Our parents' association got together and spoke to the school authorities and they expressed their helplessness,” said Ranjitha B, a parent with children in Classes four and six.
The rules by the MHRD mandate a maximum weight of five kg for school bags, something parents say is currently not possible, but hope that these rules are implemented. “Leading up to exam time, the weight of schoolbags increase as the schools send back books for children to study,” said Tinu Cherian Abraham, a parent.
Earlier this year, a committee headed by Dr Niranjanaradhya had recommended that schoolbags should not weigh more than 10 per cent of the student's body weight, and had also asked for a ‘no school bag’ day every week in schools. Besides this, the committee had also recommended that clean canteens and safe drinking water be provided in order to avoid lunch boxes and water bottles to further bring the weight of bags down. These guidelines were submitted to the government and will be looked at seriously. Several studies in the past have shown that heavy schoolbags may result in musculoskeletal and psychological problems among primary school children.
Other parents wondered why in an age when everyone is glued to their smartphones, students included, more technology-friendly means of studying can't be introduced. “Textbooks, including free ones by the government, are just a download away nowadays. The schools could easily shift to textbooks on tablets or readers and insist only on school books that students need to write in. This would also help the children, as finding information is easier on a tablet,” said Siddharth Shah, a Kengeri resident with two school-going children.