No more heavy school bags in Rajasthan

Claiming to be the first in the country, the Rajasthan government on Wednesday launched a state-wide pilot project, which aims to reduce the weight of school bags by two-third.

Launching the project, state Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara said Rajasthan is the first state in the country, where an initiative to reduce the schoolchildren’s burden has been undertaken.

“Students will now carry one book instead of several ones of the same subject,” Dotasara said while addressing a gathering at the Government Higher Secondary School in Vatika area.

During the event, the minister also distributed new books to children of classes one to five. After launching the pilot project, he said, “I am delighted to announce this initiative on behalf of the Rajasthan government. At the same time, I appeal to the other states and private schools to adopt this initiative.

“In 1993, the Yashpal committee took action for reducing the weight of students’ bag. However, states were not able to take any significant steps towards this suggestion. The Rajasthan government in partnership with Piramal Foundation has taken an initiative to work on the suggestions.” According to the pilot initiative, a student in class 1 will carry just a book that weighs 400 gms. Similarly, For classes one to five, the weight has been reduced from 5 kg 900 grams to 2 kg 200 grams.

The Rajasthan education will do the pilot testing by selecting one school each in 33 districts of the state. The new formula aims to reduce the weight of books by almost 2/3rds and the weight of the bags carried is close to a third of the weight it used to be. As part of a pilot initiative, these newly crafted books will be used in 1 school for each of the 33 Districts of Rajasthan. If successful, these changes will be made the norm for the next academic year, and this new pattern of books will be a key initiative to reduce the weight of the bags for the students.