Lok Sabha Question No. 159 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-03
Subject: Weight of School Bags
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sanjay Seth, Kuruva Gorantla Madhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 159 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 RD  FEBRUARY , 2020

## Weight of School Bags

## 159. SHRI SANJAY SETH:

## SHRI KURUVA GORANTLA MADHAV:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the  Government  has recently  instructed all the States and  Union Territories  including Andhra  Pradesh  to  formulate  guidelines  to  regulate  or  moderate  the  teaching  of  subjects  and weight limit of school bags;
- (b) if  so, the details thereof with regard to the prescribed guidelines along with the weight limit of school bags;
- (c) whether the Government has any mechanism to monitor that schools are implementing the said guidelines; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) and (b):  The Department of School Education & Literacy has issued a communication addressed to all  States and UTs including Andhra Pradesh vide letter no. 1-4/2018-IS-3 dated 05/10/2018 to take necessary action on the points given as under:

- (i) To not prescribe any homework for class I & II students in the State Board/Matriculation/Anglo Indian schools.
- (ii) To  not  prescribe  any  other  subjects  except  language  and  Mathematics  for  Class  I  and  II students  and  language,  EVS  and  mathematics  for  Class  III  to  V  students  as  prescribed  by NCERT.
- (iii) To  disaffiliate  schools  prescribing  homework and  non-prescribed  subject  for  Class  I  and  II students and class III to V students.
- (iv) To formulate 'Children School Bag Policy' reducing the weight of the School bags in the line of guidelines issued by either State of Telangana or State of Maharashtra.
- (v) To form special squads to inspect the schools and prevent the use of non-prescribed books

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005 brought out by NCERT emphasizes upon shifting learning  away  from  rote  methods,  connecting  knowledge  to  life  outside  school,  enriching  the curriculum  to  provide  for  overall  development  of  children  rather  than  remain  textbook  centric  and making examination more flexible and integrated to classroom life.

The NCERT has taken following initiatives in this context:

- (i) New  syllabi  and  textbook  reflects  the  NCF  2005  perspective  on  curriculum  load  and  are interactive and based on child centered pedagogy. The NCERT textbooks and other teaching learning materials are available online on its website www.ncert.nic.in.
- (ii) NCERT recommends only two books (Language and Mathematics) for Classes I and II and three books (Language, EVS and Mathematics) for Classes III to V.
- (iii) NCF 2005 suggests that autonomy should be given to the schools to develop their own flexible time table so that school can teach two or three subjects each day giving students more time to do activities and develop deeper understanding of the concept. NCERT addresses this issue in capacity building programme for teachers and school heads.

Also, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued circulars specifying the maximum number of books to be prescribed in classes I-VIII.  They have also issued a Circular on 12/09/2016 which provides detailed guidelines to schools, teachers and parents to reduce the weight of school bags and vide circular dated 13/08/2018 advised schools to ensure no homework for students till Class II.

(c) and (d):  Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and majority of the schools in the country are under the administrative control of the State Governments and UT Administrations, who ensure the implementation of guidelines/instructions issued from time to time.