Madhya Pradesh has now introduced a day without school bags every week in all government and private schools. The MP School Education Department has issued an order with a set of guidelines in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020's recommendations.
As per a report by The New Indian Express, the guidelines issued by the MP Education Department read, "One day every week will be No School Bags Day. Activities pertaining to vocational work experience would be conducted in every school on a bagless day." The guidelines further contained a detailed maximum school bag weight chart for Class I to Class XII. While the maximum weight of school bags (including the school diary) has been fixed between 1.6 kg and 2.2 kg for Class I and Class II, 1.7 kg to 2.5 kg for Class III to Class V, 2 kg to 3 kg for Class VI to VII, 2.5 kg to 4 kg weight for Class VIII and 2.5 kg to 4 kg for Class IX and Class X. The school bag weight for students of Class XI and Class XII will be determined by the respective school management, based on the subject stream opted by students.
Additionally, the Education Department has asked the schools to ensure that students do not carry any more books than what has been prescribed by the NCERT or the state government. "Schools will have to display bag weight charts on the notice board and in the classrooms and the school diary should also be included in the bag weight. The school management committee has to prepare timetables for students so that they are not required to bring all the books daily and their school bag weight does not cross the given limit," the notification read.
Practice books, workbooks and other important items will be stored in classrooms only up until Class VIII. The order contains 11-point guidelines and directs all District Education Officers (DEOs) to ensure immediate implementation of the scheme. The DEOs will also be responsible for selecting schools for surprise inspections to check whether the orders are being implemented.
The orders by the MP Education Department further direct schools to limit the amount of homework being prescribed to students. Accordingly, it has been declared that students up to Class II will not be given any homework. For students from Class III to V, homework hours cannot exceed two hours per week and for students of Class VI to VIII, students will only be given one hour of homework only. For students from Classes IX to XII, the maximum number of homework hours per day should not exceed two hours.
The order also adds that Computer, Moral Education, General Science, Health, Physical Education, Sports and Arts should be taught without books and school bags should be light and fit on the shoulders of students, reported TNIE.
Earlier, in June this year, the Chhattisgarh government too decided to introduce the 'day without school bag concept in all schools' with the larger purpose of ensuring better attendance in schools.
