Human Resources Development (HRD) Norm Has No Takers In State

GUWAHATI: Will school authorities ever rid their students of heavy school bags? The guidelines issued by the Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry in this regard have no takers in Assam. And this is despite the State Education department issuing repeated instructions to the school authorities.

According to HRD Ministry’s guidelines, the weight of school bags for classes I to II should not exceed 1.5 kg, 2 to 3 kg for classes III to IV, 4 kg for classes V to VII, 4.5 kg for classes VIII to IX and around 5 kg for class X.

The State Education department has instructed the authorities of both government and private schools many times to adhere to the norm meant for weights of school bags. However, such instructions have few takers among the schools in Assam.

The callous attitude on the part of school authorities on the norm for school bag weights has led a section of guardians of students to raise the issue, seeking adherence to the HRD norm.

Namita Das, the mother of a student reading in a private school, said: “I feel that my son’s school bag is too heavy. We’ve no way out. The teachers want everything – all books and exercise books. The tiffin box and the water bottle also have to be in the satchel.”

Mahesh Saikia, the father of another student reading in class VII, said: “Sometimes the classrooms are on the second or third floors. The students have to go upstairs with such heavy loads. My son often complains of backache. He blames it on his heavy school bag. Since the HRD Ministry has set a norm, it has to be honoured for the interest of students.”

An official of the State Education Department, on the other hand, said: “We’ve instructed the school authorities to follow the HRD’s norm. It is the bounden duty of school authorities to adopt own policies to lessen weights of school bags. Since the HRD Ministry has issued a guideline that has to be followed.”

Meanwhile, the Education department in the State has set May 30, 2019 as its deadline for the schools in the State to comply with the guidelines set by the HRD Ministry on the weights of school bags. The Kamrup (M) district administration has already formed a squad to inspect compliance of the HRD norm by schools in the district.

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