Opinion | How A School Bag Became A National Conversation

A letter to Jayant Chaudhary has sparked a wider debate on implementing a policy that could change the everyday lives of millions of children

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Sometimes, a public conversation begins with a simple question. In this case, the question was: If India already has a School Bag Policy, 2020, why are so many children still carrying bags that are far heavier than they should?

A few days ago, I wrote to Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Education, requesting renewed focus on the effective nationwide implementation of the School Bag Policy. The purpose of the letter was not to seek another policy, another committee, or another announcement. That framework already exists. The need is to ensure that it reaches every school and every child.

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The response, I am happy to say, has been deeply encouraging. What began as a concern about the physical weight children carry every morning has quickly evolved into a larger conversation about the kind of education system we want—one where learning inspires curiosity, not exhaustion.

A Letter Seeking Action

In my letter to Chaudhary, I highlighted that the School Bag Policy, 2020, has already established a sensible benchmark: a child’s school bag should generally not exceed 10 per cent of their body weight. But the solution goes beyond weighing bags. It requires schools to rethink timetables, notebooks, textbooks, supplementary material, and classroom practices.

The letter suggested practical measures that can be implemented without creating unnecessary bureaucracy—displaying the permissible weight limit prominently in schools, ensuring availability of weighing scales, conducting periodic checks, designing timetables keeping the weight of books in mind, reducing unnecessary supplementary material, and........

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