District Education Officer issued a warning notice to all the private and government schools of dire consequences if students are found carrying bags heavier than the prescribed limit set by education department.
The warning followed the order of the union government, which has stepped in to reduce homework for school students and reduce the weight of their school bags.
The union HRD ministry has also instructed states to ask schools not to give any kind of homework to students of Classes 1 and 2. Besides, schools should also not prescribe any other subject except language and mathematics for students in Classes 1 and 2, as noted.
In a move to ensure that school bag weight is controlled, education department has set the following limits:
Class Maximum weight of school ba
1 & 2 1.5 kg
3 to 5 2-3 kg
6 & 7 4 kg
8 & 9 4.5 kg
10 5 kg
According to NCERT guidelines, a school bag should not be more than 10 percent of children’s body weight.
“Schools need to understand and consider the welfare of child, keeping aside the race of competition to get the best scores,” Rajesh Tiwari, district education officer, said. In the notice quoting the prescribed limits of school bags, he has also mentioned surprise inspections.
“During my tenure in Bhopal, we had been able to bring down the weight of school bags variably into the limits, so schools in Indore must be ready for surprise inspections, notices and even in cases of extreme cases non-compliance disaffiliation,” Tiwari said.
He added that school principals with weight machine might end up for an inspection in schools to check weight of school bags. “If the weight of school bags is found crossing the limit, then the actions would be followed by the department starting from initial notice and follow-up inspections,” Tiwari said.
Studies show heavy bags resulting in body posture abnormalities
A study conducted on prospective cohort study in the group of 155 pupils at early school age 7–9 years old published on BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders journal showed, “School bags of the pupils were heavier than the recommendation in 79% of boys and in 64% of girls. Weight differences of the school bags after one school year have influenced changes in body posture abnormalities, especially in rotation parameters.”
In another study conducted by Drs Deepak Kumar, VS Gogia and Javed Ahmad noted that the most prevalent musculoskeletal discomfort among the children was shoulder pain (17.3%).
It was also found that 60% students up to 13 years age group carried bag more than 20% of their weight, while only 25.0% students of age group 13-15 years and 27.8% students of age group above 15 years carried bag weight up to 10% of their body weight.
The warning followed the order of the union government, which has stepped in to reduce homework for school students and reduce the weight of their school bags.
The union HRD ministry has also instructed states to ask schools not to give any kind of homework to students of Classes 1 and 2. Besides, schools should also not prescribe any other subject except language and mathematics for students in Classes 1 and 2, as noted.
In a move to ensure that school bag weight is controlled, education department has set the following limits:
Class Maximum weight of school ba
1 & 2 1.5 kg
3 to 5 2-3 kg
6 & 7 4 kg
8 & 9 4.5 kg
10 5 kg
According to NCERT guidelines, a school bag should not be more than 10 percent of children’s body weight.
“Schools need to understand and consider the welfare of child, keeping aside the race of competition to get the best scores,” Rajesh Tiwari, district education officer, said. In the notice quoting the prescribed limits of school bags, he has also mentioned surprise inspections.
“During my tenure in Bhopal, we had been able to bring down the weight of school bags variably into the limits, so schools in Indore must be ready for surprise inspections, notices and even in cases of extreme cases non-compliance disaffiliation,” Tiwari said.
He added that school principals with weight machine might end up for an inspection in schools to check weight of school bags. “If the weight of school bags is found crossing the limit, then the actions would be followed by the department starting from initial notice and follow-up inspections,” Tiwari said.
Studies show heavy bags resulting in body posture abnormalities
A study conducted on prospective cohort study in the group of 155 pupils at early school age 7–9 years old published on BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders journal showed, “School bags of the pupils were heavier than the recommendation in 79% of boys and in 64% of girls. Weight differences of the school bags after one school year have influenced changes in body posture abnormalities, especially in rotation parameters.”
In another study conducted by Drs Deepak Kumar, VS Gogia and Javed Ahmad noted that the most prevalent musculoskeletal discomfort among the children was shoulder pain (17.3%).
It was also found that 60% students up to 13 years age group carried bag more than 20% of their weight, while only 25.0% students of age group 13-15 years and 27.8% students of age group above 15 years carried bag weight up to 10% of their body weight.