KP passes a bill to limit the weight of students school bags

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cabinet, in its meeting has approved the KP School Bags Act 2019 which limits the weight of the bags of the students.

With that, KP has become the first province to introduce any law regarding the weight of the school bags.
The Provincial Minister for Education Shahram Khan Tarakai said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become the first province to introduce such legislation. In a statement, he said that the act would give a long due relief for children and parents.

The permissible weight of school bag for pre-Grade-1 would be 1.5 kg, Grade-1 2.4 kg, Grade-2 (2.6,) Grade-3 (3 kg), Grade-4 (4.4) kg, Grade-5 (5.3) kg, Grade-6 (5.4) kg, Grade-7 (5.8)kg, Grade-8 (5.9) kg, Grade-9 (6kg), Grade-10 (6.5kg) , Grade-11 (7kg) and Grade-12 (7kg).

The approved law is meant for all educational institutions, including government, private, seminary, autonomous, semi-autonomous, and others functioning in province.

KP government will set up an independent monitoring cell to ensure compliance with the law. In case of violation, the school administration will face a fine of Rs. 200,000.
Section 7 of the School Bags Act states:

“In the case of violation, principals and other faculty of schools will be taken to task. If schools disarm the law, they will be fined Rs. 200,000 each.”

According to doctors, heavy schoolbags lead to strain, fatigue and physical discomfort among children. And because of this, their attentiveness and ability to learn remains on stake. The act has recommended making textbooks and notebooks from lighter materials in the future. It has also called on the educational institutions to organize awareness campaigns regarding the consequences of heavy school bags. Indeed this is a great initiative by KP Government.