After MHRD’s call for lighter bags, schools weigh options
LUCKNOW :Prominent schools in the state capital say they are taking measures to implement the Centre’s circular which has asked educational institutions to take steps to reduce the weight of schoolbags according to the standard in which students study. They also say they are weighing options to ensure the durability of the measures.
The ministry of human resource and development (MHRD) circular says the weight of schoolbags should be 1.5 kg for classes 1-2, 2-3kg for classes 3 to 5, 4 kg for classes 6-7, 4.5 kg for classes 8-9 and 5 kg for class 10.
Geeta Kingdon, president of the City Montessori School, said, “We agree with the intent and spirit of the MHRD guideline and will work to adhere to it.”
This school has more than 56,000 students in its multiple branches in the state capital.
Abha Anant, principal of CMS Gomti Nagar branch, said, “The move will certainly help students. We will make changes in our timetable in such a way that one subject is taught for two-three periods. That will reduce the bag size.”
GD Goenka Public School principal Raveen Pandey claimed the school had implemented the Centre’s guidelines to reduce the bag load of children up to class 2.
Students were not required to carry readers and textbooks to school, Pandey said.
“The school is going for optimum use of technology by teachers as smart classroom modules are aligned completely to the curriculum. With smart classrooms, provision of storage facilities and related infrastructural availability, the switchover has been easy and smooth. Notebooks have been replaced by worksheets for class assignments,” she said.
She said the school portal was a convenient medium to keep the parents informed about the ‘reinforcement’ assignments that the students were required to do to enhance their understanding of the concepts taught in school. The class assignments were uploaded on the portal on regular basis for the parents to know about the syllabus coverage and academic activities conducted, she said.
School chairman Sarvesh Goel said, “An interactive teaching methodology and the willingness of the teachers to adapt to the change has greatly helped in smooth implementation of the guidelines.” The Millennium School, South City, Lucknow, said it followed the new-age approach, which marks a departure from the old school traditions of carrying heavy bags to school. “We focus more on learning by doing, rather than rhetoric copy filling. We have been pioneers in the field of e-learning methodologies that is against carrying heavy loads to school. We take ardent care that students are not crumpled under unnecessary burden of school bags. Our learning system has online worksheets and assignment system,” said Manjula Goswami, principal of The Millennium School. Many educationists in the city claimed every school should use technology as a tool to cut down the heavy load of school bags, thereby making school going a less cumbersome activity.
IS IT FEASIBLE?
The intention of the MHRD directive is to ensure that children do not get overburdened at an early stage and they get less homework. “Schools should understand the spirit of the order and assign less homework to children,” says Urvashi Sahani, president and CEO of the Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF). Sunita Gandhi, director and founder of the City International School, says, “We can have better learning with lighter bags. Obviously, making bags lighter means changes in timetable (for example, no more than three subjects in a day), changing the emphasis between co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, lockers in classrooms, thinner notebooks, and widespread use of e-books on tablets.”
“Less subjects and paperless education also have an appeal like saving more trees. Yet, the downsides of e-books on tablets are many – greater screen time, eyestrain, blurred vision, headaches, distractions, and need of Wi-Fi network,” she said.
REALITY CHECK
A reality check indicates nothing has changed in some institutions as the students can still be seen carrying heavy bags. In many cases, parents carry the bags to relieve children from the burden while some use trolley bags instead of regular schoolbags.
Varsha Singh, mother of a student (name withheld to protect identity) in a school having multiple branches, said: “Schools have not made any changes in the timetable to reduce the weight of bags. My daughter is in class 6 and her bag weighs nearly 5 kg.” According to doctors, a child’s spine is in a crucial stage of growth during school days. “Children are more prone to problems such as back pain, muscle pain, shoulder pain, fatigue and, in extreme cases, distortion of spinal cord or shoulders that may most plausibly be attributed to heavy school bags,” a doctor said.