Lockers no, will lead to congestion
There has been considerable debate about the weight of schoolbags and the number of books carried by school children. The Bombay High Court is also hearing a Public Interest Litigation on the subject and has made some suggestions including introduction of lockers for children in all schools.
But such a suggestion is quite impractical at this stage considering the amount of space the metal containers demand. It is impossible for established schools to provide lockers in schools because already the classroom size is quite small in most schools. Introducing about 40 lockers would take up more than half the space. Plus, all the lockers should be at the ground level for the younger lot to access them with ease and avoid accidents. If such lockers are introduced, there will be lot of congestion in the classrooms. So for most of the schools which are already established, such a plan is unviable. The government should come out with a concrete plan on this and make lockers mandatory for upcoming schools. They should be included in the master plan of the schools and it is only viable in the long run, say 15 to 20 years from now.
The Bombay High Court has also suggested the use of e-classroom and visual learning. Some schools in Hyderabad are already forcing parents and children to use tablets in schools. There is already a lot of opposition to this idea firstly because they are quite expensive and children can’t handle them. Tablets are not standalone devices; the school has to provide for Wi-Fi facility for such visual learning. And the problem with technology is that while it has several positives, it also has many disadvantages. We are already looking at many health disorders caused by the use of computers so adding such measures in schools as well would negate one disorder but cause several others. Natural learning and skills will also be lost.
Before the advent of mobile telephone, people could remember hundreds of telephone numbers. But now, we hardly memorise any number. Calculations are done only on calculators. Even small children are beginning to use the calculator in mobile phones even for simple mathematics like addition and subtraction. Any hasty introduction of technology without considering its long term impact would result in a disaster in the long run. The effects would be clear years from now though we may see them as wonders now. The best solution in such a scenario is improved practices and better planning by the government. Instead of whole year textbooks, the government can introduce term books. We have four Formative Assessment tests and two Summative Assessment tests in a year. Books can be introduced separately for each of them. Since the government is printing textbooks, it should be the one planning and thinking about the load they exert on young shoulders.
The timetables have to be managed better so as to lessen the load of textbooks students carry. Some books are heavier while some are lighter. While preparing the timetable, did anyone give a thought about the weight of textbooks? Such simple planning has to be the first step rather than going for drastic measures which will cost parents much more than they are paying now.
S. Srinivas Reddy, President, TS Recognised Schools Managements’ Association
Lockers are very much necessary
In developed countries, school children carry nothing but two sheets for homework. Not just their textbooks and notebooks, but all their belongings are kept in lockers provided by the schools. But in our case, the scenario is completely different where students are forced to carry loads every day.
A report submitted to the Bombay High Court on Friday said 58 per cent of students below the age of 10 years are suffering from orthopaedic ailments because of the load they carry. The Bombay HC rightly pointed out that soon children will have to carry trolley bags as the backpacks they carry at present is not enough. This is particularly true and relevant in our case where corporate schools are grinding children. Here students have to carry all the textbooks they have because they are staying in the schools for almost 12 hours a day. So they have to keep their lunch box, snacks, textbooks, notebooks adding up to a whopping 15 kilograms in weight. This is a huge burden on young children considering their age. Many of them have spinal cord problems which impairs their growth.
Many kids have complained about shoulder and back pains and they also develop a hump before the age of 15 simply because of the load they carry. These problems become permanent for them. And this is a huge concern. The entire luggage is not necessary to be carried day in and day out. Many people don’t know that we already have the rules to prevent this. The Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government had brought in GO MS 91 mandating that weight of school bags should not cross 5 kgs. But nobody is implementing this.
Schools don’t want to install lockers because of the space and security aspects. They are all working out of temporary accommodations. If they have to introduce lockers, they need to move to permanent accommodations which they are unwilling. Lockers don’t cost much because they are simple metal structures and for small schools it won’t even be a big cost addition. But schools these days don’t even have playgrounds what to talk of lockers and other amenities. They don’t even provide potable drinking water to the children. If they do, it can easily reduce two kilograms of weight. Children don’t have to carry two water bottles every day.
There are rules and legislations in place already. All we need is proper methods to implement them. These are the need of the hour because the previous generation was not faced with such problems. And in violation of rules, most of the schools have all the subjects’ everyday so students have to carry all the textbooks. There is nobody to monitor and check this. The rules are all already there but there is nobody willing to implement them. Even in school buses there is never enough space because of the large schoolbags.
They have to stand with their bags and it really killing on their tender shoulders. I know children who have suffered accidents while disembarking from school buses buckling under the load of their bags. Buses, at least, should have lower space for children to keep their bags. The Bombay High Court has also suggested several measures that can help reduce the burden children have to carry.
N. Subramanyam, Secretary, Hyderabad School Parents Association
