Rule on school bags weight still on paper

Hyderabad: Even two years after the state government issued a Government Order (GO) directing all schools to reduce the weight of school bags, the directive has remained on paper and officials have not yet got down to implementing it in its letter and spirit. The education department officials have failed to act against erring schools regarding the maximum weight of bags that a child can carry.

The Government of Telangana through the GO issued certain guidelines to reduce the load of school bags in 2017. The load of school bags that children are having to carry everyday, as per a survey conducted in various districts, ranges from 6 to 12 kg at primary level and 12 to 17 kg at high school level.

Carrying heavy school bags leads to an adverse impact on the physical health of children. It can damage their vertebral column, knees and can also lead to anxiety. Some private schools run in multi-storied buildings and children are forced to climb stairs with heavy bags.

Carrying heavy weighted and oversized school bags full of heavy books can cause young children to develop serious spinal deformities. Children carrying heavy school bags are developing forward head posture as they are hinging forward at the hips to compensate for the heavy weight on their back. This strains the muscles and in turn pushes the body to go into an unnatural posture alignment and also causes low back pain.

While children might not show symptoms or experience pain straightaway, in the long term they are developing imbalances in the body which can affect the health of the nervous system.

It cannot only affect a child in the present but also have long-term effects on their body and render their spine vulnerable to injuries. Therefore the solutions can be either to decrease their workload, that is, the weight of their backpack, orto constantly guide them to a better posture for the betterment of their spinal shape and thus their health, according to practo.com.

It's a common knowledge that school-going children are made to carry heavy weight bags in almost all schools. Keeping all this in mind, the government issued guidelines directing the school managements operating under the government, local bodies, aided and unaided private schools in the state to implement the guidelines to reduce the loads of the school bags for Class 1 to 10 from the academic year of 2017-18.

Speaking to the The Hans India, Padmanabh Reddy, Secretary, The Forum for Good Governance (FGG), said that they had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Secretary, demanding that the state government at least implement its order on reducing the load of school bags of the children from this academic year. "When we got the information under the RTI Act, we came to know that the government had directed the school education commissioner to take further necessary action in the matter.

The commissioner has issued proceedings directing regional joint directors (RJDs) and district education officers (DEO) to take further action in the matter," Reddy said. "Even two years after the issue of GO, the rule remained on paper and the DEOs who were directed to take action have not done anything till today and they don't have guts to go private schools and implement the order," he added. 

By Srinivas Reddy N