Lok Sabha Question No. 191 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-02
Subject: Weight of School Bags
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Arun Sao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 191 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02 nd DECEMBER, 2019

## Weight of School Bags

- . SHRI ARUN SAO:

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

- (a) whether the Government of Madhya Pradesh has recently formulated any scheme to reduce the weight of school bags for students and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the names of States where such scheme is being implemented at present;
- (c) whether  the  Union  Government  also  proposes  to  formulate  such  scheme  to reduce the weight of school bags for students;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  time  by  which  this  system  is  likely  to  be implemented; and
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

- (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO ( e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  191  TO  BE ANSWERED  ON  02 nd DECEMBER, 2019 ASKED BY SHRI ARUN SAO REGARDING 'WEIGHT OF SCHOOL BAGS'

- (a): Yes ,Sir. The State Government of Madhya Pradesh has notified guidelines for reduction of weight of school bags, wherein the maximum  weight of school bags for classes I - X has been prescribed, along with the textbooks and subjects specified by

the  State  Government and  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training (NCERT).

(b): The  States  of  Maharashtra,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Punjab,  Telangana,  Nagaland, West  Bengal,  Karnataka,  Uttarakhand, Assam,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Goa,  Kerala,  Odisha, Meghalaya,  Arunachal  Pradesh, Gujarat,  Haryana,  Mizoram,  Tripura and  Union territories  of  Delhi,  Dadra  Nagar  Haveli,  Chandigarh and  Lakshadweep have issued instructions/guidelines to reduce the weight of school bags. All States and UTs have been advised to formulate such policy.

(c) to (e): The  Union  Government  has  issued  a  communication  to all  States  and UTs  vide  letter  no.  1-4/2018-IS-3, dated  05/10/2018,  to  formulate  the  policy  for reducing weight of school bags. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also constituted an expert group to formulate a policy on children school bag and they have submitted a draft policy in this matter.

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.

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