Burden of school bags on children  

Parents and guardians do take heart from a vital circular issued by the Directorate of Primary Education recently. Prompted by a higher court directive, the directorate has issued on October 05 the circular on heavy bags school children are forced to carry by their institutions. Thanks to the High Court order in December last year, it has now become mandatory for private schools across the country to protect their students from some avoidable health hazards. The bags are incredibly heavy with several books that include quite a few unapproved by the education authorities as well as loads of exercise books and other materials. It was hardly unexpected that concerns of parents about the damaging health impact of heavy school bags on students, and an outcry triggered by child rights activists would lead to a widespread social campaign. These opposing public responses proved largely futile until the High Court intervened.

The High Court rightly observed that carrying of objects other than approved books and materials in children's bags should be discouraged, in order to save them from the hazards of back pain and problem standing upright caused by heavy school bags. Elaborating, it prohibited forcing primary school students by the authorities to carry bags heavier than 10 per cent of their body weight. Against this backdrop, the guardians look forward to the coming into force of the circular issued by the primary education authorities.

The primary education directorate is right in its assessment that the books approved by the Textbook Board are not difficult for primary students to carry to school. As part of the normal practice, the government primary schools keep their curricular functions limited to the approved textbooks.  It has been seen in the recent years that a large section of the privately-run expensive schools thrust extra books other than the approved ones into their syllabuses. Few schools are found free of this ill practice in the urban areas, Dhaka and the other large cities in particular. There are complaints that this is an excuse for money-making resorted to by the schools concerned. They make it obligatory for students to read extra books, published by houses of their choice, and written by certain textbook writers. Apart from being taxing for the students, the additional books multiply their total school expenses borne by their parents.

It's heartening that the directorate has put special emphasis on the menace and issued a circular in compliance with the High Court order. Hopefully, adequate monitoring will be there to see that the circular has been enforced cent per cent. The experience with a similar circular issued in December, 2014 is not particularly encouraging. That children burdened with unnecessary books become inattentive to studies, beside being affected by physical complications, is a stark reality. The sooner this practice is dealt with stringently, the better.