The Karnataka state government has reduced the size of school textbooks by 50 percent. The government plans to execute this by dividing the textbooks into two, each carrying 50 percent of the syllabus, ensuring that there will be no reduction in the syllabus or removal of existing chapters.
Starting from the academic year 2024-25, students from classes 1 to 10 will be subject to these measures. As per official directives, each subject will be covered across two books, dividing the syllabus according to Summative Assessment (SA-1 and SA-2).
The state government made this decision based on recommendations put forward by a committee established in 2019. This committee comprised education experts, pediatricians, doctors, legal advisors, and officials from the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT). The committee proposed specific weight ranges for school bags across different classes. It indicated that the ideal weight should be between 1.5 to 2 kg for classes 1 to 2, 2 to 3 kg for classes 3 to 5, 3 to 4 kg for classes 6 to 8, and 4 to 5 kg for classes 9 and 10.
To adhere to the updated government directives, the Karnataka Textbooks Society (KTBS) announced its plans to adapt its printing approach. According to the revised projection provided by KTBS, for the academic year 2023-24, they printed a total of 566 titles and 6,39,83,899 textbooks, amounting to Rs 323,31,93,175. Under the new guidelines, textbooks for SA-1 and SA-2 will be separately printed, incurring an approximate cost of Rs 8,45,72,950 for the additional titles.
Picture Credit: Theirworld
