CBSE aims to reduce school bag burden

Chennai: CBSE had asked schools to reduce the burden of school bags by various measures such as discouraging students from carrying heavy
reference books. CBSE came up with various recommendations in a notification issued to all schools on Monday.

It recommended that school curriculum supports more activity-based, ICT-supported learning for all main subjects in all classes, as far as possible. Homework is to be staggered to prevent overload and explore the possibility of block scheduling of subject classes in the class time-table, the notification said.

Importantly, CBSE has asked all school heads to discuss the issues and alternatives given in the notification with all their stakeholders in order to ensure their effective implementation, without imposing any financial burden on parents.
“CBSE schools are already employing many alternative methods like
having two periods in a day for the same subject. In that way students can carry three books instead of five,” said L. Neelakanta Pillai, senior principal, Kola Perumal Chetty Vaishnav Senior Secondary School, Arumbakkam, Chennai.

“Some elite schools are prescribing more books apart from the NCERT
books. But after the introduction of CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation) the burden of books have reduced in the schools,” he said.
CBSE also suggested that schools may provide with locks in all classrooms, where reference books, sports equipment can be safely stored and set up class libraries among many others.

“Schools are very conscious about the overweight of the school bags. Each school following different strategy to reduce the weight of the books,” said Minoo Aggrawal, senior principal, DAV Public School, Velachery, Chennai.

“These days children are tied to the gadgets and they don’t have reading habits. So if they leave the books in school lockers they will come back blank. We need to find a balance,” she said.