IN the bid to reduce the burden of pupils who have to lug around heavy school bags daily, the Education Ministry will look into the matter, reports The Star.

Minister Mahdzir Khalid said the ministry has set guidelines on the number of textbooks a pupil is allowed to bring to school.

“Most of the complaints are associated with SRJK (C) schools, where additional workbooks are given to the pupils to do their homework.

“I will read the newspaper report as I don’t have the full details, and we can re-look the issue,” The Star quoted him as saying.

To ensure that the guidelines are adhered to, Mahdzir said that he would even ask his officers to weigh the school bags.

Mahdzir was commenting on a report by The Star on Saturday on the amount of homework pupils are receiving and their heavy load of textbooks.

He also agreed with experts quoted in the report that it was a health hazard for pupils to carry more than 10 books to school.

“Imagine pupils carrying more than 10 books to school every day for six years,” he said. – July 24, 2017.