Concerned over the health of their children, parents from Ponda taluka have reportedly demanded from the government to make an effort to reduce the weight of school bags for the children. It is pertinent to note that the central government introduced the ‘school bag policy’ in 2020 in which it is stated that the school bag weight for students should weigh 10% of their body weight. According to the new guidelines, the weight of the school bag should be at a maximum of 3.5 kg to 5 kg. However the weight of the school bags carried by children could be anywhere between 6 to 8 kg, or even more. Carrying a heavy school bag can have an adverse effect on the child’s health. As per experts, a heavy backpack can pull on the neck muscles contributing to headache, shoulder pain, lower back pain and neck and arm pain. It is for the schools to adopt a policy to reduce the number of books carried by the children. The desks in the classroom could have a locker system where the students could store the books.
