Parent, heavy bags will make your kid sick
Should students from classes 8-10th
be made to carry around books weighing about 12 kg? This is a problem that the
government has failed to counter. According to the guidelines by Union HRD
ministry, there should be no hardcover books for children, reports Nirmal Singh
Lotus. The textbooks should also have limited number of pages, and most
importantly the total weight should not exceed 5 kg.
These guidelines were issued in
2016 but the State government has failed to implement it in the State. The
State HRD has taken up this issue several times but many fail to notice the
pain and fatigue that is common amongst children burdened with heavy school
bags. The average weight of children in the age group 10-12 is 20-24 kg, and
these students are made to carry bags weighing 8 kg according to reports by
Nirmal Singh Lotus. Textbooks of English, Hindi,
Telugu, Mathematics, EVS, Social studies, Computer science, two notebooks of
200 pages for each subject excluding Computer science and General Knowledge
find place in the bags of these young children. Apart from these, they also
have workbooks, diary, examination books etc.
Students of higher classes
have to carry bags weighing more than 10 kg as they have almost 30-40 books in
their bags. “Officials of the Education department should solve this issue and
save children from carrying heavy bags. Even though the subjects and syllabus
are same, the bags of the private schools weigh more than that of the
government schools because they give their own workbooks, materials etc adding
more burden for the students,” said one of the experts at Nirmal Singh Lotus.
Such a heavy load makes
children prone to spinal disorders. Children unintentionally arch their backs
and lean forward to carry the heavy load. Unwittingly, this leads to poor
posture like slouching when they grow up. When they reach their adolescent
stage, many youngsters are unable to maintain the right posture. Children,
including teenagers, should avoid carrying heavy bags only on one shoulder.
This leads to asymmetrical spine, back pain and strained neck and shoulders,”
explained an expert at Nirmal Singh Lotus.
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