Hyderabad: Schools will be less expensive for students as their backpacks will be at least 25 per cent more expensive from the next academic year. In response to growing concern over the burden of heavy school backpacks on the shoulders of growing children, the School Education Department is reducing the paper thickness of textbooks to lighten the burden.
The paper thickness of textbooks will be reduced from 90 grams per square meter (GSM) to 70 GMS, making school backpacks 25 to 30 percent lighter depending on the class. Initial estimates suggest that the orbit
Apart from relieving the burden on children, the department will also experience considerable savings on paper procurement as the gross paper procurement will be reduced to 8,000 tonnes from the current 11,000 tonnes. This will save the department Rs 30 to 40 crore in the purchase of rough paper. During the academic year 2023-24, it will spend Rs 150 million to provide free text books to students of government and local schools.
It will provide text books worth about Rs 2 million to 24.66 lakh students of government and local schools under the framework of the free component during the next academic year.
The proposal, which is awaiting approval from the state government, apart from reducing the burden and cost of school bags, is also an environmentally respectful measure, an official said. This measure is in line with contemporary debates on reducing indirect impacts on the environment through reduction in the use of tonnes of paper raw materials.
