The Government of Karnataka, on June 21, reissued the 2019 circular of the then government urging schools in the state to follow the school bag guidelines. As per the guidelines, the maximum permitted weight of the school bag should not exceed 15 percent of the student’s body weight.
The Department of School Education and Literacy in this regard asked the block-level education officers to ensure strict implementation of the order. The state government earlier in 2019 asked schools to ensure that the weight of a schoolbag is not more than 10 percent of the child's weight.
Guidelines for School Bag Weight
As per the guidelines issued by the government, the weight of the bag for classes 1-2 children should be 1.5 to 2 KG, for classes 3-5 children it should be 2 to 3 KG, for classes 6 to 8 students, it should be 3-4 KG and for classes 9 to10 students it should be between 4 to 5 KG.
Apart from these guidelines, the government has also stated that the schools should observe 'No Bag Day' once a week, which should be on a Saturday. This order issued was based on the recommendations suggested by Dr VP Niranjanradhya Committee constituted by the Karnataka government.
About Dr VP Niranjanradhya Committee
The committee was constituted by the state government to study the ill effects on the health of school students due to the weight of school bags. In 2019, when the final report was submitted by the committee, the Karnataka government issued an order directing schools to ensure that the weight of the school bag does not exceed 10 percent of the children's weight.
Earlier in April 2023, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) announced to set a standard that will address the problem of heavy school bags carried by students every day. In response to a question pertaining to heavy school bags of children, the Director General of BIS said that the organization will conduct research on it and soon prepare a standard for it.
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