Amidst prioritised attention towards fighting the pandemic of COVID-19, we have to take moments from out of the current situation towards other pressing problems as well and hopefully, that is being done also. The need for one or the other reform, even at elementary levels, in the entire structure of our education system keeps on creeping up while it is also a fact that for reasons of not mustering administrative will to break the inertial mode, action is hardly taken. However, the question is as to how long could such reforms be kept in abeyance and on deferring mode. We know, school going children have to carry heavily laden bags on their shoulders from their homes to schools and back. Most of them, it is reliably learnt, start complaining of pain in the back, shoulders and even around the area of their necks, right from such a tender age, because of carrying bags with too many, rather all the text books and note books etc, the bearing weight of which is usually beyond their endurance and strength. Certain questions do arise which need answers from those who are at the hierarchy of decisions making process in the education system.
Why is the entire planning and decisions about carrying books and note books to and fro schools botched up in the sense that uniformity is no where seen between private and Government schools in this respect? Why set of text books prescribed vary in number between schools especially in primary standards even between private schools? Why are not lessons taught from those books only which are required to be brought to schools and a day in advance, children advised about the same? There are few schools , again in private sector, where all the books are kept in schools only in respective desk drawers of the scholars and only those books and note books allowed to be carried to homes and back, where home task is given to be done, why not adopt this practice? While these questions need active consideration, a step, however, taken in the right direction, though belatedly, by the Department of School Education in Jammu and Kashmir, is about fixing or limiting of total weight of books etc to be carried in bags, not to exceed the limit of 1.5 to 5 Kgs for students from class 1st to 10th.
Not only this, pattern of ‘home work’ too is changed in that no such work is to be given to children up to 2nd standard while no books can be prescribed for classes at pre- primary levels while scholars in Nursery, LKG, UKG may be provided only two note books and those too, must be kept overnight in the possession of the teacher in the respective school itself. These steps were going to make a big difference in respect of breaking a system which was more for the benefit of schools, especially in the private sector, from where these books and note books were mandatorily to be bought by the parents at ‘good prices’ for their wards studying in such schools as they were making a good earning out of this practice.
No guideline or instruction from a competent authority in the interests of the public has any meaning unless that was scrupulously followed and complied with. A penal provision for violation makes it obligatory for the concerned to follow in letter and in spirit. Verily therefore, for those schools which violate these guidelines could face action as well as forfeit the right of enjoying recognition and affiliation from the Education Department. This decision was going to provide a lot of relief to the school going children as also some psychological (and physical) relief to the parents as well as most of the parents are seen carrying such ‘loaded’ bags of their dear ones, at least from home to the points from where the children board vehicles for their schools. Introducing E- Basta is an innovative step which is digital school bag in the form of a Tablet containing contents of all classes and all subjects . School uniforms for Government schools for 15 lakh kids were also going to be provided only after the position on the front of fighting COVID-19 vastly improved.
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