The state government has time and again tried to reduce the weight of school bags, but the issue remains unresolved. This time around, the state education is mulling including blank pages in textbooks, so that they do not have to carry extra notebooks. The plan was mooted by School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar in August this year, and is now being discussed with other stakeholders.

“The idea is to attach blank notebook pages to the textbooks, which can be used by the students to take notes. If that happens, they won’t have to carry separate notebooks. So, instead of two books for one subject, students will carry just one book,” said an official from the education department. In 2018, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry had issued some directives on school bag weights. As per the directive, Classes I and II students should not carry bags weighing more than 1.5 kg.