No homework for students of classes I and II and prescribed weight limit of school bags for each class are part of the fresh directives issued by the HRD ministry to states and union territories across the country.
According to the official order, the HRD ministry has "instructed all the states and Union Territories to formulate guidelines to regulate the teaching of subjects and weight of school bags in accordance with the Government of India instructions".
As per these instructions, which the schools have been asked to comply with, institutions cannot assign homework to students of classes I and II. "Schools should not prescribe any other subjects except language and mathematics for classes I and II and language, EVS and mathematics for classes III to V students as prescribed by the NCERT," the order said.
Students should not be asked to bring additional books, extra materials and the weight of a school bag should not exceed the prescribed limit, the order added. The weight of school bags for students of classes I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg, while the school bag of students of class III to V should weigh between 2 kg to 3 kg.
The school bag of students of classes VI and VII should not be more than 4 kg, while weight of school bags of classes VIII and IX students should not be above 4.5 kg. The school bag of a class X student should not weigh above 5 kg, the order said.