Bhopal: MP govt fixes school bag weight; homework duration for students

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh):The school education department of the state government has issued guidelines fixing the maximum weight of the school bags of students studying in all government, non-government and aided schools in the state from classes one to twelfth.

The government has also fixed the maximum time required by the students of different classes for completing their homework.

An order issued by the department on August 29, which was made public on Friday, says that the guidelines, based on the School Bag Policy 2020 of the School Education Department, Ministry of Human Resource Development, will override the guidelines issued on July 7, 2019.

The new guidelines say that the students should not be asked to carry books other than NCERT books and those prescribed by the state government in their bags.

They also say that the class-wise chart stipulating the maximum weight of school bags should be displayed on the school’s notice board. Computer science, moral education, general knowledge, physical education, sports and arts classes should be held without any books.

The guidelines say that no homework will be given to students of classes one and two. Students of classes 3-5 can be given homework which requires a maximum of two hours to complete per week. In case of students of classes 6-8, the maximum time required to complete the homework should be one hour every day and in case of classes 9-12, two hours every day.

How much should school bags weigh? 

Class I-II - 1.6-2.2 KG

CLass III-V- 1.7-2.5 kg

Class VI-VII - 2.0-3.0

class VIII 2.5-4.0 Kg

Class IX-X 2.5-4.5 Kg

Class XI-XII Weight to be decided by the School Management Committees on the basis of the subject-streams chosen by the students.