In a bid to reduce the burden of school children, the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) has recommended schools under its aegis to let children carry minimum books to school. In its recent circular, it has directed to ensure that students do not carry school bags till class II and also to restrict the number of books to be prescribed in classes I-VIII.
In a written reply to a question, Minister of Delhi for Human Resource Development (HRD) Upendra Kushwaha told the Lok Sabha on Monday that both the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have taken several measures to reduce curriculum load and the weight of school bags.
"In its latest circular dated September 12, 2016, it has advised schools to take all possible measures to keep the weight of school bag under control," the Minister said.
He assured that the NCERT has not recommended any textbook for early childhood education, and that only two books for classes I and II and three books for classes III to V have been recommended.
"The Government has also launched a platform for showcasing and dissemination of all digital and digitisable resources for its stakeholders in collaboration with the NCERT," he said.
"The NCERT has made available all their textbooks and other teaching-learning material for free access on its website," he added.
On affiliation with schools, Upendra Kushwaha said the CBSE has also developed an online mechanism for submission and scrutiny of affiliation applications. "710 Affiliation applications are pending with Central Board of Secondary Education for more than six months," he said.