The Delhi government has directed schools in the national capital to implement the new “school bag policy”. The new policy will reduce the weight of school bags and the burden of students.
“Heavy school bags are a serious threat to the health and well-being of school students. These have adverse physical effects on the growing children which can cause damage to their vertebral column and knees.
“Moreover, in the schools which are functioning in double or multi-storey buildings, children have to climb the stairs with heavy school bags which further aggravates the problem,” the Directorate of Education (DoE) said in a letter to school principals.
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From no textbooks for pre-primary classes to single notebook for classes 1 and 2, frequent checks of school bags to ensure students do not carry heavyweight, informing the students and parents regarding appropriate kind of school bags and encouraging students to use both straps of bags, are among the recommendations made by the government.
“The load of school bag is increased by bringing textbooks, guides, homework or classwork notebooks, rough work notebooks, water bottles, lunch box, and sometimes the heavyweight of the school bag itself. The number of textbooks in different classes should not exceed the number prescribed by the statutory bodies.
As per the suggestions, which are in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP), the weight of school bags for students between classes 1-10 should not be more than 10 per cent of their body weight.
