HRD Ministry issues guidelines on subjects, homework & weight of school bags

November 26: Parents and guardians often complained that the weight of school bags sometimes exceeded the weight of their children. Further, small kids lost their childhood being busy in doing homework assigned by the school. In a major relief to these worries, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has asked the States and Union Territories to ensure that there is no homework for students of Classes 1 and 2 and the guidelines capping the weight of school bags for classes 1-10 are adhered to.

As per these instructions, which the schools have been asked to comply with, institutions cannot assign homework to students of classes I and II. “Schools should not prescribe any other subjects except language and mathematics for classes I and II, and language, EVS and mathematics for classes III to V students as prescribed by the NCERT,” the order said.

Students should not be asked to bring additional books, extra materials and the weight of a school bag should not exceed the prescribed limit, the order added. The weight of school bags for students of classes I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg, while the school bag of students of class III to V should weigh between 2 kg to 3 kg. The school bag of students of classes VI and VII should not be more than 4 kg, while weight of school bags of classes VIII and IX students should not be above 4.5 kg. The school bag of a class X student should not weigh above 5 kg, the order said.

“The ministry guidelines are in adherence to the Madras High Court order on weight of school bags,” said a senior NCERT official confirming the development. Earlier this year, the Madras High Court had said, “The children are neither weightlifters nor schoolbags are loaded containers. Joy, happiness, enthusiasm, trolling, rolling, kicking, running, fighting, playing with other children are natural qualities of the children.” The court’s observation came while passing an interim order in May on a petition seeking direction to the schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education to purchase only NCERT books.