Dear Editor,

The school bags that our children tote to school seem to be too heavy for them to carry comfortably without endangering their health. May I appeal that this refined form of child abuse cease immediately.

A school worth its salt is supposed to have a time-table that takes into account the nature and quantity of texts to be utilised in relation to the subjects for the day.

If the teacher deviates from the time-table, then the onus is on the teacher to implement strategies to cater for the adjustment.

It is not fair that the child be given a task beyond his/her physical capability in the name of education to fetch texts and materials to cater for the possibility of the teachers’ adjustments in the learning context. Dr Dale Bisnauth had suggested some guidelines with respect to the weight of school bags but these fell short, obviously.

Yours faithfully,

Krishna Nand Prasad