Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Wednesday directed the government to formulate a specific law prohibiting primary school children in carrying overweight schoolbags within six months.
The HC also directed the Directorate of Primary Education to issue a fresh circular within 30 days, notifying all the primary schools to prohibit their children to carry schoolbags more than 10 per cent of their weights and prescribe punishment against the errant schools. It also asked the authorities concerned to form a monitoring cell to look after the matter across the country.
The HC bench comprising Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das delivered the verdict after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by three Supreme Court lawyers.
Earlier, on November 21 in 2014, the Directorate of Primary Education issued directives prohibiting overweight schoolbags to reduce health hazards of primary school children across the country. The HC bench yesterday in its observation said that the government directive was not proper as it did not prescribe any punishment for violating the directive and no school authorities had been following it till now.
The HC also observed that the overweight school bags could cause various short and long-term health problems to the children as the bodies of the children get injured and they have to suffer for their entire life if they are forced to carry heavyweight bags.
Advocate Masud Hossain Dolon, Advocate Ziaur Rahman and Advocate Anwarul Karim filed the petition with the HC on August 9 in 2015 seeking necessary directive over the matter.
In response to the petition, the HC had on August 12 in 2015, issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks why it should not be directed to formulate a specific law or regulation against carrying schoolbags that weigh more than 10 percent of the children’s body weight, and against use of any schoolbag by pre-primary children. After final hearing on the rule, the HC bench yesterday came up with the directives.
After the HC order, Advocate Masud Hossain Dolon, who appeared before the court on behalf of the petition, told reporters that the Indian state of Maharashtra ruled that school-children should carry bags no more than 10 percent of their weight. “We have filed the writ petition with the HC so that our government would formulate a law over the matter so that the school children could move safely,” he added.
