Madhya Pradesh government drafts guidelines suggesting no homework for students up to Class 2 and reduce weights of school bags. Under the new guidelines, the School Education Department of the state has asked all the government, non-government and government-aided schools to ensure that students carry school bags of weights as prescribed by the department and monitor the homework given to the students. The guidelines are in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Ministry of Education's School Education and Literacy Department's School Bag Policy 2020 issued earlier.
As per the Madhya Pradesh School Education Department guidelines, the weight of the school bags for students of Classes 1 and 2 should be between 1.6 and 2.2 kg. It said the permissible weight of school bags has been fixed between 1.7 to 2.5 kg for Classes 3 to 5, 2 to 3 kg for Class 6 and 7 and 2.5 to 4 kg for Class 8. While it is 2.5 to 4.5 kg for Classes 9 and 10.
The guidelines also says about homework for students at various levels, starting with no homework for children up to Class 2, and maximum two hours of homework every day for children in Classes 9 to 12. While for children in Classes 3, 4 and 5, a maximum of two hours of homework per week should be given, it added.