West Bengal government is taking steps to reduce the weight of school bags for students in primary schools, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said.
Chatterjee said he has asked the Syllabus Committee to reduce the weight of school bags. "We have to ensure the total weight of pages in a single text book does not exceed the carrying capacity of a child. We have to see if the number of pictures in a particular book is more than required. "The Syllabus Committee will look into these things and take an appropriate decision without compromising on the quality of the text books," the minister said.
The move followed demands made by a primary school teachers organisation at a recent meeting with the education minister that the weight of school bags of primary school students be reduced. The meeting had been convened to elicit the opinion of all stakeholders to bring back the Pass-Fail system from primary stage .
The Primary School Teachers organisation had pointed out at the meeting that a text book Amar Boi compiled three subjects Bengali, English and Mathematics in a single volume, weighing around 1 kilogramme and asked the government to split it into three separate books - subject-wise.