Government school students have something to cheer for from this academic year starting June 12. S chool education department will implement a programme named ‘no bag day’ in which students need not carry their bags and books to the schools on a specific day either every week or every fortnight. Instead, they will play sports and take part in cultural activities. This programme is aimed at reducing stress levels among students and increasing their happiness.

However, officials are still undecided whether to implement the ‘no bag day’ every Saturday or limit it to two Saturdays every month. Following the footsteps of Delhi government, the State has decided to implement this programme as part of ‘happiness curriculum’ in the government schools. “No bag days will make students happier and help them pursue their choice of sport or cultural activity and excel in it,” a senior official said.

The move comes after Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry ordered a cap on the weight of school bags. After the directive, the school education department worked on the implementation of the HRD ministry guidelines through an expert committee. However, the State government did not issue any order in this regard to the education department.

Speaking to TNIE, school education department commissioner K Sandhya Rani said, “We couldn’t implement the HRD ministry guidelines on limiting the weight of the school bags from this academic year as we didn’t receive any instruction from the State government.”