Bhubaneswar: The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has asked all Union Territories and the states, including Odisha, to formulate guidelines to regulate teaching of subjects and the weight of the school bags.
In a letter, the Ministry has asked the principals and headmasters not to assign homework to the students of Class I and II.
Besides, the schools should not prescribe any other subjects except Language and Mathematics for Clash I and II children and Environmental Science (EVS) and Mathematics for the students of Class III, IV and V as prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT), the Ministry pointed out.
It has also asked the authority concerned to ensure that the students should not bring additional books and extra materials.
The Ministry has made it clear that the weight of the school bag should not exceed 1.5 kg for the children of Class I and II, 2-3 kg for the children of Class III, IV and V, 4 kg for the students of Class VI and VII, 4.5 kg for the students of Class VIII and IX and 5 kg for Class X students.