Heavy school bags harm students' health, surprise checks must be conducted: Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court today asked the Maharashtra government's education department to raise awareness in schools about ways to reduce the weight of students' school bags.

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Picture for representational purpose only. Photo: Reuters.
Picture for representational purpose only. Photo: Reuters.

In Short

  • Raise awareness in schools about ways to reduce the weight of students' school bags: Bombay HC.
  • Most parents these days have a single child, whom they overburden with their expectations: Justice Kanade.
  • Education department must conduct surprise checks and act against those overburdening students: Bombay HC.

Bombay High Court today asked the Maharashtra government's education department to raise awareness in schools about ways to reduce the weight of students' school bags. The court ruled that both school teachers and parents needed to take remedial steps and understand that heavy bags could harm students' health.

The division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Swapna Joshi, while dictating the order, said, "Heavy school bags cause long-term physical harm on the health of students. It has been established through medical reports that children, who are of tender age, cannot carry any heavy burden that is likely to result in injury to the back and spine."

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PARENTS ABROAD FACE LEGAL ACTION IF KIDS HARMED

Prior to this, the court had noted that there was a huge difference between the approach of authorities in India towards parents and those abroad. Justice Kanade said, "Parents abroad have to face legal action if authorities feel that children are getting harmed. Here in India, parents put a number of restrictions on their children like not allowing them to watch TV, locking them in rooms if they don't listen to their parents, not letting them handle latest gizmos. Parents need to change their attitude towards children."

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He added, "Most parents these days have a single child, whom they overburden with their expectations. Parents want their children to study eight hours daily, attend a number of classes, learn karate and participate in several extra-curricular activities."

The court also ordered that the education department should conduct surprise checks and take action against those overburdening students with heavy bags. Government should forward to the Centre the list of schools that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the state.

SUGGESTION OF LOCKERS IN SCHOOLS

Justice Kanade also proposed that a system of lockers in schools could be started so that children don't have to carry heavy bags. However, the government counsel said that this suggestion was not feasible for municipal schools and for those in remote areas. There are a few people, who have directly approached the court and given suggestions on how the weight of school bags of students can be reduced. The government counsel said that the Director of primary education was already looking into all the suggestions offered.

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Justice Kanade said that a lot of importance must be given to physical education and PT. While Justice Ranade said that reducing the number of school hours could also be considered, the government counsel called the offer unworkable, adding that it would have repercussions. To this Kanade replied, "We are not experts so it's best that all of you study this."