Parents claim the Vidya Niketan School at Dombivli is adding to their expenses, causing mental pressure and creating more work for students
While the state education department is insisting on reducing the weight of school bags, schools too have been introducing innovations to support the same.
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The parents of students at Vidya Niketan School want the management to give clear directions and not change their rules as per their whim. Pic/Sameer Markande
However, some parents of students studying at Vidya Niketan School in Dombivli, have protested that the various ideas initiated by the management, while reducing the weight of school bags, are becoming a burden on them. They say they are adding to expenses and leading to mental pressure and more work for students.
The school is introducing new ideas to attempt to reduce the weight of school bags. File pic
“The school first asked parents to send full-scape sheets to school with children so that they don’t have to carry notebooks. Many parents complained that students were misplacing these sheets, leading to more trouble during exams, so this was dropped and a new method introduced this year.
Meanwhile, most of us have already spent way too much on dozens of full-scape sheets and other stationery like files, etc,” said one of the parents. This year, the school first asked parents to send only a 100-page notebook, but parents allege that this was again changed, and parents were again asked to buy long notebooks.
“The new idea by the school involved our children carrying only one long book for notes, and later come back home and copy whatever has been taught in school into separate notebooks of different subjects. While the school authorities are thinking they are reducing the physical pressure on children, they are increasing the mental pressure on children,” added another parent.
Some parents have also written to the school about this, and are hoping for the management to give clear directions and not keep changing their rules and regulations on a whim.
Principal speak
When mid-day contacted the school principal Vivek Pandit, he called these issues as teething problems. “Every time a change is introduced, it takes a while for parents/students to adjust to it.
Last year also, while some parents had opposed the full-scape pages, a large number of parents had also appreciated the same. We are currently trying to find the best way to reduce the physical burden on students,” said Pandit. He added that complaints of parents have been received, and they will be discussed with all in a PTA meeting.
While Pandit said that carrying lighter notebooks will benefit students in the long run, he added that the purpose of taking few notes in class, was to encourage students to pay attention in class, and build on what has already been taught, rather than depend on notes provided by teachers.
“All textbooks have questions and answers so there is no need for students to take down everything in class as part of notes. We are trying to encourage students to only jot down the important parts in class during lectures,” he said, and added that parents have misunderstood the concept.
“Students have been asked to only copy those notes that are important into their individual subject books, not all that is taught in class. It’s just the beginning, so everybody seems hassled, but they’ll soon get used to it, we hope,” added Pandit.
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