The National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020 targets making text-heavy books lighter in the coming couple of years in order to prevent students from carrying heavy school bags to schools.

The ‘Policy on School Bag 2020’, a part of the NEP, mandates that the weight of a school bag should not be more than 10 per cent of the body weight of the concerned student.

Moreover, the current school-book content will be further simplified so that thinner books accompanied with adequate audio-visual material and practical training can make classroom sessions more interactive.

“Heavy books that are filled with theory content may soon become thinner. We are engaged with discussions with states and allied stakeholders on this matter,” one of the concerned officials in the know of the developments was quoted in an article by Money Control.

Under the National Education Policy 2020, there are different curriculums for school education, adult and teacher education. It will be prepared by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) and will hence mark a change from a single National Curriculum Framework forming the core of the school education system.

The final decision on the structure of the curriculum will be taken by July after receiving inputs from states and its implementation is likely to kick off from academic year 2022-23.