Karnataka limits weight of schoolbags 12/05/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: , , ,

Karnataka limits weight of schoolbags

For: Preliminary

 

News Flash

The Karnataka government issued an order directing all schools in the State, including government, aided and unaided institutions, to ensure that the weight of a schoolbag is not more than 10% of the child’s weight.

  • As per the circular, bags of students of Class I and II can only weigh around 1.5kg to 2kg while those of Class III, IV and V can weigh 2kg to 3kg.
  • Students from Class VI-VIII can have their bags weighing only up to 3kg-4kg and those of Class IX and X can weigh up to 5kg.

 

No Homework

  • The order also states that students in Classes 1 and 2 should not be given any homework.
  • Schools must set a timetable in advance, which will limit the number of books that have to be brought to class every day.
  • All classwork should be kept in the school itself, either in files or books.
  • The order also says that schools must provide some space in classrooms where students can store their notebooks and textbooks.
  • Another measure to ease the daily load is to make provisions for drinking water facilities so students don’t have to carry water bottles.
  • Schools have also been directed not to ask students to keep books of more than 100 pages.

 

No Bag Day/ Bagless Day

  • The third Saturday of every month should be followed as a “No School Bag Day”.
  • On that day, teachers have to engage students without any books or supplementary materials. Suggested activities include field visits, general knowledge clubs, art classes, indoor and outdoor games, abacus, dance classes, and debates.

 

Background

The order comes after the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development in October last year directed all States to draw up guidelines to reduce the weight of schoolbags. Following this, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education took up a pilot study, which was conducted by the Directorate of State Education, Research and Training and the Centre for Child and Law, National Law School of India University.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

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