Schools to face de-recognition for violation of guidelines
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Apr 15: Taking cognizance of a general complaint of burdening the school going children with un-necessary books, the Department of School Education in Jammu and Kashmir today ordered guidelines regulating weight of the school bags.
As per the guidelines in this regard, the students shall not be asked to bring additional books and extra material to school while weight of the school bag for the students from Class Ist to 10th should not exceed the limit from 1.5 kg to 5.5 kg.
No homework shall be assigned to the students of classes up to 2nd standard and no formal books will be prescribed at Pre-primary levels while the students of Nursery, LKG, UKG may be provided maximum two notebooks that to be kept in the teacher’s custody in the school itself.
It shall be duty of the Heads of the schools to ensure the adherence of the guidelines and in case a school violates these provisions, the Government may cancel affiliation and recognition of such educational institution.
A notification in this regard was issued today by the Principal Secretary of School Education Department, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon by making amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules, 2010, which shall be added as Rule 8A.
According to the new rule, no school should prescribe any other subjects except Language and Arithmetic for Class Ist and 2nd; Language, Environmental Science (EVS) and Arithmetic for Class 3rd to 5th; Language , Social Science, Mathematics and Science for Class 6th and 7th or as prescribed by the affiliating authority.
“In any case, the weight of the school bag should not exceed 1.5 kg for Class Ist and 2nd; 3 kg for Class 3rd to 5th; 4 kg for Class 6th and 7th; 5 kg for Class 8th as well as 9th and 5.5 kg for Class 10th” , reads the Rule 8A while maintaining that the students shall not be asked to bring additional books and extra material to school.
Making it clear that no formal books are prescribed at Nursery, LKG and UKG levels, Rule 8A further says that students of Pre-primary level shall not carry any bag except light carrier for lunch box. Even as the students of these Pre-primary classes may be provided maximum two notebooks/work books, the same shall be kept in the teachers’ custody in the school itself.
Maintaining that the School Education Department shall issue detailed guidelines and directions from time to time regulating weight of the school bags, the newly added Rule 8A provides that the Government may cancel affiliation and recognition of the school violating these regulations on school bag weight.
According to Dr Asgar Samoon, Principal Secretary of the School Education Department, the rule amendment for limiting maximum weight of the school bag has been done keeping in view the complaints in this regard by some parents. “The Government too feels that students should not be burdened with additional books and un-necessary material and this is the reason that we are also introducing `E-Basta’ – a digital school bag in the form of a Tablet containing contents of all classes and each subject,” he told the Excelsior.
Dr Samoon also informed that the Education Department has decided to transfer uniform cost to the students of Government schools as under the ongoing lockdown due to COVID-19, it was virtually impossible to get the school uniforms stitched and distributed to 15 lakh kids. “Cash of Rs 300 per students is being transferred through DBT. Next year when the conditions improve and cost ceiling is raised by Government of India from present Rs 300 per child, the School Education Department shall provide stitched uniforms to the students,” he added.
Pertinent to mention here that in view of the ongoing lockdown, the School Education Department has already transferred cooking cost of the Mid Day Meal to the students through DBT besides providing them dry ration at their door steps.
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