Mumbai: Parents give poor marks to state government over school bags

A day after the Centre asked the states and Union territories to go easy on children over homework and the weight of their school bags, parents and activists in the city said the state government has tough rules on the issue but their implementation continues to be tardy.

Parents say schools ask their children to bring extra books apart from routine timetable as they rush to complete portions. This adds to the load that students are carrying in their bags. The Union human resource development ministry has asked states to come up with norms of their own or follow the Maharashtra or Telangana models.

A parent from a Central school said, "My daughter is in primary and she carries hardly four textbooks, but the size of those books is quite big. While they use worksheets, the weight of her bag is too much."

The parent added, "The school initially asked us not to give food from home in order to reduce the weight of school bag but her school canteen doesn't give healthy food. They have noodles and Chinese dishes that have left with upset tummy. So she carries tiffin which adds to the weight of her bag."

According to a government order of 2017, the prescribed weight of school bags should be between 1,800 gm and 3,425 gm. Maharashtra's policy is that the weight of a bag should not exceed 10 per cent of a student's weight.

Jayant Jain of non-profit Forum for Fairness in Education said, "The state education department has only formed a rule but it has not yet been implemented. The implementation will happen only when action is taken against schools that flout the norms. Students still carry heavy bags. The department doesn't have enough manpower to carry out inspections."

Swati Patil, another parent and activist who has filed a public interest litigation in Bombay High Court on this issue, said, "We have learnt that only schools in urban areas are aware of these norms."

However, there are some parents who feel the introduction of lockers by school has helped their kids to some extent. Lockers allow children to keep books in schools.

A parent of a Class V student of a civic-run school said, "Earlier, my children used to carry their textbooks to school from home. But now their school has brought cupboards to keep the textbook. This has brought great relief to us as even we too have experienced discomfort carrying heavy school bags while dropping our children to school in the morning."

MAHARASHTRA’S GUIDELINES

FOR SCHOOLS

• Schools must ensure that a school bag is not more than 10% of the body weight of a kid
• Set time-table to keep bags lighter
• No books except those prescribed by the board
• No homework for Class 1 and 2 students
• Children can’t be forced to buy books with more than 100 pages 
• Schools must arrange for cupboards
• Provide clean water so there’s no need to get water bottles

FOR PARENTS

• Discuss with school on timetable to reduce weight
• Don’t provide fashionable bags
• Check weight of the bag before buying
• Don’t provide tiffin if school has canteen