Berhampur: The De Paul School here has adopted a system to reduce the weight of the students' bags, which they bring to the classroom every day.
Instead of notebooks, the students are coming to school with a bag containing folder files and stick files, which are light in weight.
Principal Father Saju Antony said: "We have introduced this system from Class V to Class X to reduce the weight of the students' bags after discussion with other school authorities. We found some schools using these papers. But in other schools, many students take the papers to school and damage it. So, we started with a bag with 12 folders to facilitate the students to keep the files subject wise. But, the most important aspect is that the students are becoming more responsible. The system is also economically cheaper for the parents."
"From next year, the files will disappear. We will introduce notepad system from Class I to Class X to further improve the system. They need to bring only one notepad," he said.
"We have reduced the number of periods from eight to seven to reduce one textbook and one notebook during the initial stage. Then we rearranged the time table having two periods of the same subject on the same day to further reduce the number of textbooks and notebooks. I think the present system of bag and stick files have further improved the situation," he said.
Former vice-chancellor of Berhampur University Jayant Mahapatra said: "The school authorities may adopt innovative concepts in this regard. But, at the same time, we have to initiate steps about how to make a student more precise, pin-pointed and skill-oriented, which is relevant to the present-day society. The students during their tender age are moving under psychological mental stress and depression. We must take steps to reduce these hindrances, and this should be our social thrust."
"Heavy school bags are a serious threat to the health and well being of students. It has a severe and adverse physical effect on the growing children - which can cause damage to their vertebral column and knees. It also causes anxiety in them. Moreover, in the schools which are functioning in multi-storey buildings, the children have to climb the steps with heavy school bags, which further aggravate the problem and health consequences," said Dr Tapas Rout, associate professor of surgery in MKCG Medical College and Hospital.
"Thank God, the weight of the school bag of my daughter has reduced to almost half. The only disadvantage is that the loose sheets may be misplaced. But, the system is far better," said Rout, whose daughter Tanisha studies in Class VII in De Paul School.
Bijayalaxmi Jena, teacher in a state government-managed Project UP School Narayanpur, also echoed Rout. "If a single note sheet is misplaced, there will be problem. We are now forced to be more careful about maintaining the note sheets every day," said Jena.
