Knowledge
Education department to submit report on school bag weight by July 10
The government has instructed the state edu department to conduct checks in schools to ensure that children are carrying school bags within the prescribed weight limit. The govt will in turn forward this report to the Bombay High Court.
The matter of children lugging around very heavy school bags has been around for some time now and notices have been issued by boards from time to time. However, at the start of this academic session itself the state education department has asked schools to hold random checks and measure the weight of the bags students are carrying and submit a report.
The local education department has been given time by the state government till July 10 to submit a consolidated report on the weight of school bags. The state in turn will forward these findings to the Bombay High Court before it next hears the PIL on July 27.
In a circular issued to the schools in the city's north zone, the education department has instructed principals to conduct random checks of school bags in June and July. B B Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai, shared that the department wanted to ensure that the guidelines are followed right from day 1.
A delayed inspection carried out by the education department in April, 4 months past the Bombay high court's deadline of bringing the school bag weight under control, had revealed that around 30% of the students in the city still carried bags which are more than the prescribed limits. The prescribed weight of bags for class I to VIII is between 1.8kg and 3.4kg.
School principals reported that they have already initiated measures to ensure that the bag weight is under control. "We have emailed all parents to ensure that they check the bags before students leave for schools. We have also told our teachers to ensure all the students are using their lockers," said Father Francis Swamy, principal, St Mary's ICSE School, Mazgaon.
Some schools have been innovative in the approach and have asked the students to carry only homework sheets to school. "They can leave textbooks and other items in school. They only need their organiser and homework sheets," said Kusum Kanwar, principal, Billabong High School.