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Carrying the burden on shoulders

Why are school bags getting bigger?

Kaavya, all of eight, is intently listening to her teacher inside a crowded tuition centre. She stoops over her wooden desk, a posture that afflicts every other student across the country.

All thanks to schoolbags. Loaded with books, the frail shoulders of students are forced to bear weights they cannot possibly handle at that age.

The Indian Academy of Paediatricians has come up with a proposal to reduce the weight of schoolbags (with the lunch pack) to 200 grams or less at the Kindergarten level.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), too, is keen on reducing the workload of children and has been dispatching frequent circulars for the past few years.

It envisages a scenario where schools are given the freedom to opt out of exam-based assessment. It proposes methodologies to reduce homework by introducing optional level of competency for students of same standards — two types of assignments based on competency level.

But whether all CBSE schools follow this is a big question. Many schools have separated homework and class work notebooks.

But the problem is doubled as students are asked to submit homework notebooks, almost on a daily basis. "My child carries more than 10 books and notebooks every day. At the end of the day, he is exhausted and unable to complete his homework," laments Nalina Venkatraman, mother of a Class VI student.

The burden of additional books forces parents to opt for either private or school transport facility to send their children to school.

But owing to lack of space for baggage in already crammed auto-rickshaws and school vans, they end up carrying it themselves.

Much to parents' concern, the practice of carrying a separate lunch bag is no longer in vogue.

The traditional two-compartment school bags have given way to bags with multi-compartments.

This encourages more stuffing. "Students are tempted to stuff more if the bag is big. It gives them a trendy feeling when their stuff is spread in all compartments," K.G. Meenakshi, correspondent of a CBSE school.

Academicians feel a bookless culture will not work here as children are more inclined to learn from colourful books than mere oral teaching.

And, teachers say an easy way out is to ensure that only three subjects are taught in a day, so that the number of books and notebooks brought to school is automatically halved.

Parents are all for it. After all, who would not want to see their child walking straight after a day at school?

S. AISHWARYA

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