Delhi govt asks schools to implement new school bag policy

Source: Times Of India

To scale back the burden of school bags for students, the Delhi government has directed schools within the national capital to implement the new ‘Schoolbag Policy’. The new school bag policy has been notified by the Ministry of Education last month and is in line with the New National Education Policy (NEP). There's a heavy threat to the health and well-being of school students carrying heavy baggage.

 "Moreover, in the schools which are functioning in double or multi-story buildings, children have to climb the stairs with heavy school bags which further aggravates the problem," the directorate of education (DoE) said in a letter to school principals. This could cause harm to their skeletal structure and knees and hurt their growth.

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The government has suggested several things from no textbooks for pre-primary classes to one textbook for classes 1 and 2, etc. "Heads of schools and teachers ought to frame a well-designed timetable for every class so that kids don't have to be compelled to carry several books or notebooks to school every day," it said. The new National Education Policy says that the burden of school baggage for students between classes 1-10 mustn't be over 10 per cent of their weight.