VIJAYAWADA: The State school education department is in the process of implementing The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)’s recent guidelines, which say no homework should be given to students of Classes 1 and 2 and they should be taught only two subjects, Mathematics and Environmental Science (EVS). Students studying in Classes 3, 4 and 5 should be taught only three subjects, Mathematics, EVS and a language, the guidelines state.
The guidelines also say that the weight of a student’s bag should increase in proportion to the class they study in. Students who study in Classes 1 and 2 should carry bags weighing not more than 1.5 kg, those studying in Classes 3, 4 and 5 should carry bags weighting not more than 2-3 kg, for students of Classes 6 and 7 the weight of the bags should not be more than 4 kg, for students of Classes 8 and 9 they should not be more than 4.5 and for students of Class 10, the weight should not cross 5 kg. Another set of guidelines, issued by MHRD in 2016, await implementation in the State. According to the guidelines, books should not have hard covers, the number of pages in each book should be limited and the weight of a student’s bag should not exceed 5 kg in any case.
In State, children who themselves weigh around 20-25 kg are seen carrying bags weighing more than 6 kg. This practice, according to orthopaedic doctors, can lead to postural defects and spinal problems as students’ bags should not be more than 10 per cent of their body weights.Students are being made to carry textbooks of English, Hindi, Telugu, Mathematics, EVS, Social Studies, Computer Science (CS) and General Knowledge (GK) in their bags along with notebooks of 200 pages each for all subjects other than CS and GK, workbooks, copywriting books, a diary, and examination books. Students of higher classes end up carrying bags of more than 10 kg as they are made to carry more than 50 books at a time.
“Though private schools have lockers, children are made to carry many books. All of them have two heavy bags, one stays inside the school locker and the other on their backs,” said L Yasodha, a parent.Meanwhile, K Sandhya Rani, Commissioner of School Education, said, “We are planning to come up with the best possible way to reduce the weight of school bags that students carry. By the start of the upcoming academic year, we will be ready with a set of guidelines that every school will be instructed to follow.”Earlier this year, the State government had initiated a `1,000 crore worth project aimed at providing lockers in all government schools, but due to lack of space and other problems, the project could not be completed.
