GUWAHATI: Random checks by members of the state youth wing of Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) have found students carrying school bags more than double the weight prescribed by a notification issued by the Meghalaya government.
KHNAM will by the end of this month submit to the state government its findings on the surprise checks on the weight of bags carried by students to and from schools in both urban and rural areas.
“We have in the past three weeks visited about 13 schools in the urban areas of the state and have found not even one per cent of them abiding by the prescribed weight. We plan to visit some more schools mainly in the rural areas so that we have a comprehensive report for the government to act upon,” Thomas Passah, the president of KHNAM state youth wing, told The Shillong Times on Monday.
The state education department had on February 11, 2019, issued a notification prescribing the weights of school bags for students of different classes.
According to the notification, the weight of school bags for students of Class I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg, for students of class III to V, it should not exceed 3 kg while for students of class VI to VII, the maximum weight should be 4 kg.
“While the weight should not exceed 4.5 kg for the students of class VIII to IX, the maximum weight a class X student can carry is 5 kg,” the notification, which comes in the wake of central government’s weight guidelines, said.
Passah revealed that on the basis of the schools visited so far, the students were bearing either double or more than double the weight prescribed on their shoulders.
“It goes without saying that the excess weight of bags takes a toll on the health of students, for which we want the government to take the matter seriously,” he said.
“Our plan is to check as many schools we can in the next fortnight so that we get a clear picture on the violations carried out by schools, and thereafter submit our findings, including photographs, to the education minister by the end of this month,” Passah said.
