The government of Karnataka has passed an order directing all schools in the State including government, aided and unaided institutions to ensure that the weight of the school bag is not more than 10 percent of the weight of the child. As per the order, students in Classes 1 or 2 should not have to carry more than 2 kgs of books. Students from classes 3 to 5 should have a prescribed weight of 2 to 3 kgs of books and students of classes 9 and 10 are allowed to carry not more than 4 to 4.5 kgs.
The order further stated that students in classes 1 and 2 should not be given any homework and schools are to set up a time table in advance to limit the number of books to be carried to school everyday. Managements have been directed to create awareness of the health hazards of carrying heavy bags.
