Tel govt lessens burden on school kids, caps weight of bags

The sight of children trudging to school, puffing and panting, may soon become a thing of past, with the Telangana government capping the weight of their school bags between 1.5 kg and 5 kg.
It has also barred schools from assigning homework to students of primary grades--I to V.
In a bid to tackle the weighty issue, the government has come out with an order for school managements that would take much of the burden off the backs of students from grade I to X so they are protected against "adverse physical effects and anxiety diorders" caused by hefty schoolbags.

According to the Government Order (GO) issued yesterday, the maximum weight of a school bag with textbooks and notebooks should not exceed 1.5 kg for Class I and II and 2 to 3 kg for Classes III to V.
"For Classes VI and VII, the weight should not exceed 4 kg and for Classes VIII and IX, it should not be more than 4.50 kg. In the case of Class X, it should not be more than 5 kg," the order said.
According to some estimates, schoolchildren currently carry bags weighing anywhere between 6 kg and 12 kg at primary level and up to 17 kg at high school level, it said.

"This (heavy schools bags) results in severe, adverse physical effect on the growing children and can cause damage to their vertebral column, knees. It can also cause anxiety disorders in students," the order said.
Their misery gets compounded where schools function in multi-storeyed buildings as they have to climb stairs carrying bags that are bursting at seams.