HC moves to lighten schoolbags
Primary children cannot be forced to carry bags with 10pc of their body weight
Primary school children cannot be forced to carry backpacks weighing over 10 percent of their weight, the High Court orders today in response to a writ petition.
The HC also directed the government to formulate a specific law prohibiting carrying schoolbags that weigh more than 10 percent of their weight in six months.
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The court also ordered the government to issue a circular in 30 days with necessary instructions for the school authorities. It asked the authorities to form a monitoring cell in this regard.
The secretary of education ministry and director general of primary and mass education department will head the committee and take necessary steps against offenders.
The court today observed that forcing primary school kids to carry heavy weight is cruelty and violation of human rights.
Bodies of the children get injured and they have to suffer for their entire life if they are forced to carry heavy weight bags, the HC observed.
The HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das came up with the judgment after hearing a writ petition filed by three SC lawyers last year.