Srinagar, May 25: The School Education Department on Wednesday said that the weight of school bags for KG students from classes I and II shall not have more than 1.6 KGs to 2.2 KGs
The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) has said, “The weight of the school bags as per the policy, should be 1.6 to 2.2 kg for students of Classes I and II, 1.7 to 2.5 kg for Classes Ill, IV and V.”
It also reads that only 2 to 3 kg for Classes VI and VIl, 2.5 to 4 kg for Class VIII, 2.5 to 4.5 kg for Classes IX and X and 3.5 to 5 kg for Classes XI and XI1 shall be allowed/.
“Heavy school bags are a serious threat to the health and well-being of students. The heavy school bag has severe/adverse physical effects on growing children which can cause damage to their vertebral column and knees.As such Heads of all Schools of Kashmir Division (Govt. as well as Pvt.) are hereby directed to strictly adhere to the revised guidelines of School Bag Policy, 2020-released by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) detailed below to reduce the weight of school bags for students in Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools,” read an order issued by Director, School Education, Kashmir.
According to the order, School teachers should inform the students in advance about the books and notebooks to be brought to school on a particular day and frequently check their bags to ensure that they are not carrying unnecessary material; The weight of the school bags, as per the policy, should be 1.6 to 2.2 kg for students of Classes I and II, 1.7 to 2.5 kg for Classes III, IV and V, 2 to 3 kg for Classes VI and VII, 2.5 to 4 kg for Class VIII, 2.5 to 4.5 kg for Classes IX and X and 3.5 to 5 kg for Classes XI and XII. There should be no bag for KG classes; The teachers should take the responsibility of checking the weight of school bags of the students and any information about heavy bags should be communicated to the parents; To reduce the weight of the school bag, it is the duty and the responsibility of the school management to provide quality potable water in sufficient quantity to all the students in the school so that they do not need to carry water bottles from their homes and the files and thin/light exercise books should be preferred to thick/heavy ones.
