Don’t think children carry unnecessarily heavy bags, no new directive needed: Bombay HC

Students needed to carry books between home and school because these books served as reference material for all they are taught in class, the court said.

“Our books showed only women doing housework, today books show men sweeping the floor,” a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice N M Jamdar said. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking that weight of school bags be reduced, saying it does not think children carry “unnecessarily heavy bags” as books have become thinner in tune with the times.

It said no new directive was necessary to limit the weight of school bags.

“In our times, our textbooks used to be so thick. Nowadays, books are so thin. They are also gender neutral. Books have evolved,” the court said.

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“Our books showed only women doing housework, today books show men sweeping the floor,” a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice N M Jamdar said.

“Our books were so heavy but we didn’t get any back problems,” it said.

It said it “didn’t think school-going children carried unnecessarily heavy bags”.

Instead, the court said, the National Council of Educational Research and Training and other publishing authorities moved in tune with the times and published thinner books.

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Students needed to carry books between home and school because these books served as reference material for all they are taught in class, it said.

It directed the petitioner, activist Swati Patil, to go through NCERT website and its recommended curriculum.

In case the petitioner found any issues with the curriculum, she could approach the court again, it said.