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Schools, parents need to join hands to reduce weight of school bags, says Shamkant A Patil
There was a government directive in July 2015 which strictly restricted schools from allowing students carrying weight more than 10 per cent of their body weight.
Eighty two-year-old Shamkant A Patil, a resident of Bhau Patil road, Bopodi, runs an NGO, Shreenath Swami Bahuddeshiya Sanstha, through which he has been trying to spread awareness about the unacceptable weight of school backpacks of children.
What are the major concerns surrounding the weight of school bags?
Schoolgoing children have been burdened with heavy bags. I have seen young students carry bags weighing upto 10 kg everyday on their shoulders. It is no more just books, but several other materials like project stationery, large or multiple tiffin boxes, umbrella, raincoat, sports uniform, etc. in additional to the conventional notebooks and stationery. All this will cause major health hazards for students, harming their growth, both physically and intellectually.
Has the government taken any step to check this?
The government has taken steps, but they aren’t strong enough. There was a government directive in July 2015 which strictly restricted schools from allowing students carrying weight more than 10 per cent of their body weight. Even the PCMC education department recently started the ‘No School Bag Day’ policy on the first and third Saturday of every month in civic-run schools. But, all that cannot change the overall scenario, because both parents and schools need to be actively involved in its implementation. More awareness programmes and stringent laws can help.
Can you suggest possible solution(s) for this?
I have noticed students carry a lot of weight, just not of notebooks, but textbooks as well. One of the measures is to recycle books. These textbooks can be kept on the school premises and can be used by the students during school hours. Also, many students end up taking more books to school, even of those subjects which are not in the routine, in the fear of being called out in the class for not having it. Many a times, classes in school often get switched and the routine changes, so students are scared to be in such a spot. The recycling process, really helps as they would not have to carry any books at all. Also, if required, these students can keep another copy of the same book in their homes for home study or borrow the same books from the school during examinations. The other suggestion is spreading more awareness, which we have been working towards.
