Heavy burden

The Peshawar High Court has given Khyber Pakhtunkhwa four months in which to regulate the weight of school bags carried by children. A petitioner had filed before the court a case stating that schoolchildren were carrying an average weight of 12kg to 20kg daily, and that this presented a threat to their health. The sight of children lugging schoolbags along roads and pavements is a common one and experts hold that they could suffer damage to the spine and shoulders, especially when the bags are too heavy to carry comfortably. We should remember that 20kg is the standard weight passengers on domestic flights are permitted, and this would appear to be too much load to expect children to take with them to school.

This problem exists across the country. Other nations including India and Sri Lanka have already passed legislation limiting the weight of schoolbags to a level that is safe and comfortable for children of various ages to carry. The PHC division bench while hearing the case noted that the education ministry had not paid sufficient attention to the problem. Certainly, this is a matter that needs to be taken up. Perhaps it could be best handled by also bringing school administration onto a single forum for discussion. Schools after all determine how many books children must bring to school for their daily lessons. In some cases, studies have shown that the failure to make out a proper weekly timetable compels children to carry all their books to school each day. There are certainly ways to tackle the problem. The priority must be the health and safety of children, some no more than six or seven years old. The court has quite correctly asked why kindergarteners should need bags filled with books in the first place. The issues with our educational system are many. But the question of schoolbags and their weight is something that can be settled fairly easily through legislation, and after a discussion with health experts and all stakeholders.