Kashmir's Blackboard Crises-Part-Ill 'School Bag Policy goes for a toss'

In 2020, the Department of Education released a circular aimed at enhancing the attractiveness and reducing the constraints of early education for children in Jammu and Kashmir.

- PEERZADA UMMER

The circular clearly indicated that pre-primary children would not utilise formal text-books or a designated syllabus, and that students in Grades 1 and 2 would not receive daily homework assignments. The regulation aimed to control the weight of schoolbags, highlighting increasing awareness of the physical and psychological burden on young students.

Notwithstanding these explicit directives, numerous children continue to be observed making their way to school each morning, their diminutive physiques encumbered by huge school bags.

This situation has elicited significant apprehension among parents, educators, and child welfare advocates, prompting enquiries over the lack of enforcement of the Department of Education's recommendations and the authorities’ silence on the issue.