Concerned over schoolchildren complaining about back-ache, shoulder and neck pain, orthopaedic doctors have visited over two dozen schools across the city to educate children and teachers about the need to reduce the weight of schoolbags.
Ajit Benedict Royan, HOSMAT Hospital vice-president, said that the ideal size of the schoolbag is 10 per cent of the body weight. “If the bags are heavy, it will cause pain in the head, neck, and shoulder. Carrying heavy bags for a long duration leads to deformities in the spine. “Students also cannot focus on studies and experience fatigue after reaching home,” he said, adding that the bag should not be below the hip joint and students should be encouraged to bring backpacks and asked to avoid carrying a sling bag. Besides reducing the load of books and other stationery, parents should be educated to the pick a schoolbag that is not heavy, he suggested.
Some best practices
Class lockers
Many city-based schools have lockers in which students can leave their belongings when they return home
Timetable design
Some schools have revamped their timetable to ensure that classes of two subjects of which textbooks are heavy are not held on the same day
Radom checks
Many schools conduct surprise checks to see whether students are carrying extra books or gadgets
Files and folders
Many schools discourage students from taking classnotes in notebooks and ask them to maintain files or folders
Computers and tabs
Many reference books and assignments are now done on computers or tablets
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Guidelines of the Central Advisory Board of Education
- Schoolbags of children up to class two should be kept in the school itself
- Students should be discouraged from bringing reference books to school
- School principals should frame a well-designed timetable so that they do not have to carry too many books or notebooks. They also need to ensure that the co-curricular activities are held every day
- Parents should buy a child-friendly bag that is comfortable and light
