Heavy going over light bag

As a result of the widespread concern over the heavy school bags that young children have to lug around, the Girton High School in Grant Road has introduced a lightweight cotton cloth bag to mitigate their hardships. The sling bag has been made compulsory for all students.
Dr Villy Cama, trustee of Girton School explained: "We used to have similar ‘jhola’ bags when we were in school and there were never any backache complaints. You bring anything new and there will always be opposition to it. By bringing back the old style, we have practically stopped competition between children and parents about who has bigger, trendier, costlier bags or any other school accessory... They do not realize that it is all just to help children... We have been conducting random checks of school bag weight in the past one year (and) observed how whenever a student’s bag is beyond the prescribed weight by government resolution, it is generally the school bag itself which is heavy (rather than its contents). Hence, we asked parents to change to the simpler cloth school bags.”
When Mid-Day (MD) asked the principal, Ayesha Mistri how only changing the school bags will help as students still have to carry textbooks, notebooks and stationery items, she responded, "We have made arrangements for drawing class, craft and needle-work material to be kept in the school so that children need not carry them.” She also explained the school time table has been redesigned to ensure that on any given day a child does not have to carry more than three books.
All parents are not pleased. According to a report in MD of June 28, 2016, they allege the school bag is not well designed, that it mandatorily has to be purchased from a vendor designated by the School. The parents’ major gripe is that since the bag has only one compartment, everything from books, compass box, tiffin box and water bottle has to be accommodated together. Lacking a zipper, the bag remains open. As it is a sling bag, all the weight rests on one shoulder alone, which is more uncomfortable than a backpack. In the rainy season, the cloth bag becomes wet as it is not waterproof, they contend.
Swati Patel, who had filed a PIL (public interest litigation) in the Bombay High Court regarding school bags being too heavy for students observed: "It is good that the school is actually thinking on the lines of reducing school bag weight. But while doing so, the educational institutions should consult parents and take them into confidence to avoid complications and conflicts. There cannot be any compulsion about it,” MD reported. The evening newspaper has done a comparative study of the price of school bags which shows that at Rs 350 each, the Girton School bags are the most affordable, with the prices of other bags ranging from Rs 450 to Rs 600.