Shillong: With directive from the Ministry of Human Resource Development regarding the weight of school bags and homework, the Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Education Department has instructed all schools falling under the Department of Education, Government of Meghalaya to comply with the government guidelines with immediate effect.
Schools shall not assign homework to students except those recommended by MBOSE, ICSE and CBSE, however the directive clearly states that no homework should be given to students of classes I and II and their school bags should not exceed 1.5 kgs.
The maximum weight of school bags for students of Classes III to V shall be 2-3 kgs, Classes VI to VII is 4 kgs, classes VIII to IX, 4.5 kgs and for Class X students the weight of school bags shall be 5 kgs.Students should not be forced to bring additional books and other materials apart from the prescribed textbooks.The head and teachers of schools should frame a well-designed time table for each class so that children do not have to carry too many books or notebooks to the school. Reading library books and participation in games, sports, arts & culture and other creative and co-curricular activities for holistic development of students must be encouraged, a statement issued said.
