Fixing schoolbag weight

Small children carrying big and heavy schoolbags has become a common sight in our country. Now there is hope that the long-standing problem of burdening little children with heavy bags would be resolved to the relief of children. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government would soon enact a law to fix weight limit for schoolbags. The provincial law department has vetted the proposed legislation and the soon bill will be tabled in the K-P assembly for approval. An official of the provincial administration told the Peshawar High Court on October 15 that in the draft legislation, the government had categorised weight limit for various school classes and the maximum permissible weight limit for schoolbags would be six-seven kg. The court told the provincial government to expedite the process of legislation in this regard. One of the justices observed that sometimes minor students had to walk long distances carrying heavy schoolbags. A lawyer has moved the court seeking its intervention to fix limits to ever-growing weight and size of schoolbags, contending that the carrying of heavy schoolbags affected physical and mental growth of students, and the government has long been ignoring this crucial issue. Medical experts say carrying of heavy schoolbags could cause neck, back and shoulder pain to children. The petitioner also referred to research studies in support of his contention and said the maximum limit for the weight of schoolbags should be below 10 per cent of the child’s body weight.

We hope other provinces will also enact similar laws to protect children from heavy schoolbags. One wonders despite a constant warning by experts and educationists why the government has remained unmoved on this grave issue affecting the mental and physical growth of our children. Procrastination by the government on this score has already caused much trouble to students and their parents. It is a failure on the part of teachers too. Aristotle has said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2019.

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