Bag weight not in line with MHRD instructions: Panel

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6

According to the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR), during an inspection, schools were found violating the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) orders to all state governments and UTs regarding a policy on the weight of school bags.

The MHRD had, on October 5, instructed all state governments and UTs to formulate policy regarding school bags, reducing their weight on the lines of guidelines issued either by the State of Telangana or the State of Maharashtra.

According to the Telangana model, the weight of the school bag for Classes I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg — including textbooks, notebooks and weight of the empty bag. It should be 2 to 3 kg for Classes III to V, 4 kg for Classes VI and VIII, 4.5 kg for Classes VIII and IX and 5 kg for Class X.

According to the inspection team, bags of students were still found heavy in spite of the specific guideline by the MHRD. Chairperson Harjinder Kaur said: “While inspecting, it was found that children were carrying heavy school bags which is against the MHRD orders.”

However, Education Secretary BL Sharma said: “The CCPCR should not be concerned with the MHRD. They should deal with issues related to child rights.”

Meanwhile, the Education Department is yet to devise a policy on the weight of school bags.

Panel for child rights inspects schools

The Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) held an inspection to review the mode of transportation opted by schoolchildren on Thursday. The inspection team, led by CCPCR Chairperson and traffic police officials, visited Government Model Senior Secondary School, Mani Majra, and St Soldier International Public School, Sector 28. During the inspection, it was observed that auto-rickshaws ferrying schoolchildren were overloaded. Regular inspection of overloaded auto-rickshaws will be conducted by the commission to ensure safety and security of the children. Officials said schools heads blamed parents for not taking security measures. The inspection team also found that students were unaware of the child helpline numbers.