Maharashtra’s School Education Department has directed schools to ensure that a student’s schoolbag weighs no more than 10% of the student’s body weight, as part of new measures to reduce the physical burden on children. The directions were reported in Mumbai on September 3 and apply to school-level planning, learning materials and regular monitoring of bag weights.
The department issued the guidance under the state’s schoolbag policy, which seeks to prevent the health impacts associated with carrying increasingly heavy bags. Students often carry textbooks, notebooks, practice books, workbooks and other educational materials to school each day, creating a particular burden for children at the primary and secondary levels.
Under the directions, schools must plan academic activities and timetables so that students bring only the educational material required for the day’s work. School administrations have been asked to prevent unnecessary increases in bag weight and to regularly check whether bags remain within the prescribed 10% limit.
The guidance places responsibility on schools to organise teaching methods and classroom requirements in a way that reduces the need to carry multiple books and notebooks. The department said such planning should help remove unnecessary material from schoolbags and reduce the physical strain on students.
The department has also called for coordination among school managements, teachers and parents. Parents are expected to take part in efforts to reduce bag weight, while schools and teachers must communicate and plan the required materials together. The directions therefore cover not only the weight of the bag but also how schoolwork and daily classroom needs are organised.
The Maharashtra guidance follows directions issued by the Centre’s School Education Department on August 11 regarding the reduction of schoolbag weight. The central guidance asked schools to monitor bag weights regularly, raise awareness about health problems associated with heavy bags and plan academic activities to reduce unnecessary educational load.
The latest directions do not specify in the supplied report a separate enforcement schedule or penalty structure for schools that exceed the 10% limit. Schools are expected to undertake regular checks and adjust their timetables, teaching practices and material requirements in line with the policy.
